On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said that it is suing the US government over their efforts to prevent immigrants being able to claim asylum to escape gang and domestic violence in their home nations. The ACLU lawsuit, acting for 12 parents and children they claim were wrongly turned down, has asked for Attorney General, Jeff Sessions’ decision on 11 June to restrict the types of cases eligible for asylum.
The lawsuit, filed in Washington, argues that if the Sessions memo were to stand, people who are desperately looking for a safe haven would be illegally deported to places where they have a legitimate fear of becoming victims of violence. Asylum may be granted to someone who faced, or is likely to face, persecution in their own country.
Every month, thousands of people seek asylum at Customs and Border Protection stations on the southwest border. The majority of are from countries in Central America that have been torn apart by corruption, gangs, and violence. The new lawsuit continues the escalating fight over immigration policy between the US government and the ACLU.
Officials in the Trump administration have claimed that some immigrants are exploiting the asylum process and banking on passing the first credible fear screening to be released into the US. The Sessions memo overruled a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2014, which gave asylum to a woman from Guatemala who was fleeing her violent husband.