1/ I just won my first case under the Trump admin's new rule barring anyone who entered after 7/16/19 from #asylum--but leaving them eligible for other limited forms of protection.
It's a strange feeling of having won & lost at the same time. Happy, but not celebratory.
It's a strange feeling of having won & lost at the same time. Happy, but not celebratory.
2/ My client is from a country in crisis, which he fled after being kidnapped & tortured by govt-affiliated forces for his anti-regime activity.
This would usually be a fairly clear-cut case of political asylum. But not under this administration.
This would usually be a fairly clear-cut case of political asylum. But not under this administration.
3/ The new Trump rule makes anyone who didn't seek asylum in another country first ineligible for #asylum--but (as required by intl law) still allows them "withholding of removal," a far more tenuous status which, unlike asylum, does not put recipients on a path to citizenship.
4/ As the name would suggest, an order of removal (deportation) actually enters against a winning applicant and is then "withheld," such that the US government could still carry it out in the future if it were able to prove that it is now safe for you to return to your country.
5/ I'd prepared my client for this, but no matter how kindly the judge explained it I could tell it was still hard for him to hear that this "win" comes stapled to a deportation order which may be over him for life if the Trump rule survives pending legal challenges.
6/ There is nothing more rewarding in the practice of #immigrationlaw--and very possibly any other field of law--than winning a detained #asylum case. (Winning a non-detained one is a close second.) The contact high from my clients post-grant is a whole other class of brain drug.
7/ If, like today, a hearing finishes up later in the afternoon I usually take a long walk around the Common, maybe treat myself to a milkshake (one of my only daylight vices) or something stronger if it's late enough.
But not today. I just got on the train & went back to work.
But not today. I just got on the train & went back to work.
8/ I sincerely believe that the Trump asylum ban is a violation of both U.S. law and our international treaty obligations. But it's ultimately going to have to be up to #SCOTUS, and they could very well uphold it. This feeling could be the best it gets for the rest of my career.
9/ And my client is still *very* fortunate, in that he was able to get to the U.S. just before we started sending asylum seekers back to rural Guatemala to process their claims there. I can't even imagine.
10/ Trump ran & won on hardline immigration policies, & while they could have played out worse it's been bad. I fear that some changes could be permanent, or at least here for much of the rest of my career. As an advocate, a policy person, a citizen, & a human...I hope I'm wrong.
