Attorney General Barr orders immigration judges to deny bail for migrants seeking asylum


On Tuesday, Attorney General William Barr ordered immigration judges to stop allowing bail for asylum seekers who have already established "a credible fear of persecution or torture" in their home country, a policy reversal that could lead thousands of immigrants to be detained for months or years until their cases are heard. "Basically if you pass the initial asylum screening you can now be indefinitely detained," immigration attorney Eileen Blessinger explained to CNN. Under the new policy, asylum seekers could only be released from detention if the Department of Homeland Security grants parole, an authority it uses sparingly.
The ruling won't take effect for 90 days, and the ACLU and other groups have already promised legal challenges. Barr, as attorney general, oversees immigration courts, which are part of the Justice Department, not the judicial branch. But "our Constitution does not allow the government to lock up asylum seekers without basic due process," said the ACLU's Omar Jadwat. "We'll see the administration in court."
On CNN Tuesday night, Chris Cuomo agreed that Barr and President Trump are "going to have constitutional problems with this" order, including habeas corpus and due-process issues. But he painted it as a political, not legal, decision, and explained why it's mostly smoke and mirrors to look tough on immigration.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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.
Don't "be faked out by this move," Cuomo advised. "They're letting people go not out of any sense of compassion or humanity, they're doing it because they have to. And you can tell the judges whatever they want, they don't have any place to keep them. So this is a little bit of a distraction to show harshness when they don't have any solution to the real problem, which is accommodating the flow. He's got nothing for that."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Could Trump really 'take over' American cities?
Today's Big Question Trump has proposed a federal takeover of New York City and Washington, D.C.
-
Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim over ICE detention
Speed Read This is the 'first damages complaint' brought by an individual targeted by the Trump's administration's 'crackdown' on Gaza war protesters
-
July 11 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Friday's political cartoons include Donald Trump and English lessons for Liberia, the MAGA weather forecast, Pete Hegseth, and the incredible disappearing Epstein files.
-
Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim over ICE detention
Speed Read This is the 'first damages complaint' brought by an individual targeted by the Trump's administration's 'crackdown' on Gaza war protesters
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffs
Speed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Speed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation