ICE is reportedly using a new trick to keep asylum seekers behind bars, separated from their kids

A protester rails against Trump immigration policies

(Image credit: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)

published 5 July 2018

The Trump administration is reportedly crafting proposals that would make it extremely difficult for migrants from Latin America to seek asylum in the U.S., but in the meantime, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has found creative ways to keep asylum seekers locked up and separated from their children. On Wednesday, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, a lawyer representing a Honduran woman who has already passed the first, credible-fear stage of her asylum claim process, told NPR on Wednesday that her client is still being held apart from her kids, in apparent violation of orders from federal judges.

"Lincoln-Goldfinch says she and other immigration attorneys believe this is ICE's new policy to deny bonds or set them so high, in excess of $10,000, they're out of reach for immigrants who arrive broke," NPR's John Burnett said. "She thinks it's part of the government's campaign to stop what it calls the catch and release of unauthorized immigrants." ICE denied targeting asylum seekers or setting bonds punitively, but the numbers suggest otherwise. In his ruling Monday, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C., said ICE has to follow its own directives to parole, or release, asylum seekers who pass the credible-fear hurdle. In five ICE districts, President Trump's ICE has been paroling essentially zero of those asylum seekers, versus 90 percent under former President Barack Obama. You can listen to Burnett's full report below. Peter Weber

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.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox