Thread: Asylum-seekers suit U.S. over delays in jail

Asylum-seekers suit U.S. over delays in jail

Bob Egelko
Published 2:42 pm, Thursday, April 17, 2014

(04-17) 14:40 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Immigrants seeking political asylum in the United States accused the government in a lawsuit Thursday of adding months to their time behind bars by ignoring a law that requires a decision within 10 days on whether they have a "reasonable fear" of persecution if deported.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco as a proposed nationwide class action on behalf of thousands of undocumented migrants who have been deported in the past but re-enter the United States and claim they face persecution or torture in their homeland.

While first-time illegal entrants seeking asylum are often released on bail, previous deportees remain jailed during the asylum process, which can last for a year or more. To avoid immediate deportation and remain eligible to seek asylum, they must persuade an asylum officer that they have a reasonable fear of persecution - a process that is supposed to be completed within 10 days, according to federal regulations quoted in the lawsuit.

Instead, the suit said, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services merely "encourages" its asylum officers to conduct interviews within 45 days, and to decide 85 percent of the cases within 90 days. Last year, the suit said, decisions took an average of 111 days, effectively adding 101 days to the immigrants' confinement while their cases proceed in court.

"The breakdown in the reasonable-fear process puts an extremely vulnerable population in even more danger," said Julia Harumi Mass, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued on behalf of five detainees seeking asylum. "While they wait in immigration jails, many have families in the U.S. or abroad who depend on them and may also be in danger."

Each of the lockups costs the government $119 per day, and the delays add up to more than $50 million a year, said Jenny Zhao, another ACLU lawyer.

One of the plaintiffs, Credy Madrid Calderon, grew up without parents in Honduras, entered the United States at age 17, and was deported a decade later in September 2013 after being caught driving without a license, the suit said.

After suffering beatings and death threats in Honduras, he re-entered the United States March 3 and was taken to an immigration jail in Richmond - and he is still there awaiting an interview to assess the credibility of his claims of persecution, the suit said.

There was no immediate comment from the Department of Homeland Security, whose chief, Jeh Johnson, is the lead defendant.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail:begelko@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @egelko

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/...il-5411099.php

Hold on just a minute! These folks were previously deported, which means they are felons.