Thread by @matt_cam

1/ I just listened to the complete record of a case in which an #immigrationjudge denied an #asylum claim for a gay ICE detainee from El Salvador, and it is an absolutely textbook model of why we need appointed counsel in deportation proceedings. Keep reading for the lowlights.

2/ This man came to the US in '89 after yrs of persecution on account of his sexuality. As if threats he was getting from gang members who bullied him with homophobic slurs almost daily weren't enough, he was also afraid of an abusive partner. An uncle was killed for being gay

3/ Once he came to the US, he found love, community, and a chance at being able to live openly as who he is. He never looked back. He had legal status for most of the time he was in the US, and only a minor misdemeanor relating to disorderly conduct.

4/ When he was taken into ICE custody far from his family and friends, he was unable to pay for a lawyer and (as I hope you know) there is no right to be provided with one if you can't afford one in deportation proceedings. He filed and litigated his own asylum claim behind bars.

5/The #immigrationjudge heard this entire story, and found it credible. Credibility can be a major barrier to asylum, but he told his story clearly, consistently, and with appropriate details. She just didn't think he deserved the protection of the United States.

6/ She instead found that:

(A) regular threats, and physical violence at the hands of gang members (among others) which included homophobic slurs "while unfortunate, do not rise to the level of persecution"

I don't think you need to be a lawyer to see the problem w/this one

7/

(B) El Salvador may have some of the worst rates of anti-LGBTQ+ violence in the world, but (i) they just instituted some form of hate crimes legislation and (ii) there are a couple of openly gay politicians. So it's fine, basically.

Truly awful, to the point of sadism.

8/

(C) Although the applicant didn't define a "particular social group" for asylum purposes--bc, as you will remember he is not & did not have a lawyer--the judge went ahead & made one up for him... & then found that this group she had just made up was too "circular" to qualify

9/

Let's just take a minute with that one.

Rather than simply going with "gay men in ES" (a perfectly reasonable and, at least in my experience, extremely effective legal basis for ayslum) the judge made up a *different* group which would be easier to argue against and deny

10/ I'm proud to have litigated many #asylum claims based on persecution my clients have suffered on account of a range of non-cis/queer identities, & I've never lost one of them. This isn't so much on the strength of my lawyering as that of their uncontroversial legal basis

11/ I am reasonably certain from what I've heard here that a lawyer who fully briefed the country conditions in El Salvador for gay men--which can be truly horrific, no matter what laws they've passed or who they've elected--and properly defined the claim could have won it.

12/ More to the point though, this man never should have been in custody.

He never should have been facing deportation.

He never should have had to build a case, submit evidence, and make a complex legal argument without an attorney.

None of this should exist.

#abolishICE

*strike "reasonably," this is a strong claim

"I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable Asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong."

--George Washington

Happy birthday, buddy. Maybe next year.

#asylum