Federal Judge Blocks Trump Restrictions Preventing Non-White Immigrants who were Victims of Gang or Domestic Violence in their home Countries from Seeking Asylum

From [HERE] A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Trump administration asylum restriction policies that prevented immigrants who were victims of gang or domestic violence in their home countries from seeking asylum.

The ruling came as a result of a lawsuit that the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies filed on behalf of 12 asylum seekers. These asylum seekers were denied asylum after taking part in interviews that were “designed to evaluate whether plaintiffs had a credible fear of persecution by their respective home countries.” After these interviews, the plaintiffs were denied asylum after officers applied “the standards set forth in a recent precedential immigration decision issued by then-Attorney General, Jefferson B. Sessions.”

In blocking these standards, the judge found that “the new credible fear policies are arbitrary, capricious, and in violation of the immigration laws.”