Federal court orders temporary halt to Obama administration's 'no-release' policy

Immigrant Detention Center
(Image credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

A federal court in Washington, D.C., on Friday temporarily stopped the Obama administration's 'no-release' policy, which detained some asylum-seeking mothers and their children, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The American Civil Liberties Union had filed the lawsuit last December, which challenged the policy of holding women and children despite their having passed credible-fear screenings. The ACLU argued that those awaiting asylum hearings were not a flight risk, and thus should be released ahead of their court dates. The federal court agreed with the ACLU, rejecting the administration's argument that the no-release policy was necessary in order to control what could have otherwise been a mass influx of immigrants into the country.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Sarah Eberspacher

Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.