Caitlin Dickerson reports for the NY Times:
. . . .
Mr. Sandoval-Moshenberg, who represented the plaintiffs, said that many parents were evaluated for “credible fear” after having their children removed, but before they were told where the children had been taken. He said his team submitted evidence showing that, during the interviews, the parents were “out of their minds with trauma, focused solely on the well-being and the whereabouts of their kids.”
In one piece of evidence included in the case, a recording of an immigration judge questioning a mother about her asylum claim, the mother can be heard crying too hard to answer the judge’s questions and says that she feels sick, Mr. Sandoval-Moshenberg said. After a few minutes, he said, the judge affirms an asylum officer’s finding that the woman’s fear of returning to her home country is not credible and asks that she be taken to see a doctor.
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Read Caitlin’s full article concerning the recent proposed settlement at the above link.
Obvious question: Why would somebody like Jeff Sessions be given authority over a “court system” that is supposed to insure Due Process for asylum applicants? That’s even worse than having the fox guard the henhouse! The results are as horrible and unlawful as they are predictable.
PWS
09-14-18
Paul – Thanks so much for writing this blog. I haven’t appeared in Immigration Court over 6 years (won cancellation for a family of 5 (when case started only 4 appeared eligible) after 2 appeals to BIA and 7 hearings – couldn’t get better than that but i made a “2 figure” hourly fee after expenses) – so your blog is a real time up date of whats happening. (I now refer deportation to a old friend who tells me things are “bad” but no details.)
I know that the old time immigration judges (and special inquiry officers like my Dad) are rolling over in their graves right now. For the most part they followed the law and called the shots as they saw them…. just like you did. Hopefully the silver lining will be an Article III immigration court. However, i’m not sure how the next administration is going to clean up the mess that Trump/Sessions has now created. Any thoughts on that????
Nice to hear from you, Ron. Glad all is well.
Yes, those of us who spent the better parts of our professional careers promoting Due Process and trying to get the Immigraton Courts functioning in a fair, efficient, independent, professional, and scholarly manner are both heartbroken and outraged at what Sessions and this Administration have done. The courts have reverted to having all the same problems that they had prior to EOIR’s establishment in 1983 — only this time they are immeasurably worse and without any pretense that the DOJ considers the Immigration Courts to be anything other than a bunch of well-paid enforcement agents.
While the Reagan Administration, in which I was serving at the time, was no “shrinking violet” when it came to immigration enforcement, there was a certain sense of justice, fair play, and professionalism that is totally lacking today. After all, the guys who had to “sign off” on getting the Immigration Judges out of the “Legacy INS” were Rudy Guiliani, Al Nelson, and “Iron Mike” Inman — none exactly known as “softies” on immigration. But they all (this was “Rudy 2.0,” rather than today’s version) had a decent professional relationship with the private bar and respect for the rule of law and fundamental fairness.
The starting point for correcting the current mess is to get the Immigration Courts (including the BIA) out of the DOJ and to establish an independent, Article I Court with sitting judges in charge and a true merit hiring process (like for Bankruptcy Judges or U.S. Magistrate Judges). All the problems can’t be solved overnight. But, true independence and judicial control of dockets are the keys to improving Due Process, fundamental fairness, and efficiency. DHS Enforcement (whether they recognize it or not) would also benefit from having a judicial court handle immigration trials, rather than a bureaucratic agency masquerading as a court. The disturbing lack of credibility of today’s system under Sessions hurts everyone involved and undermines our entire justice system.
Best,
Paul
09-14-18