- Saturday, April 20, 2024
By: Sarwar Alam
The US Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that asylum seekers rejected in fast-track proceedings have no right to appeal in federal court, a victory for President Donald Trump.
The ruling, supported by seven of the nine court justices, backed the Trump administration, which wants to accelerate the expulsion of thousands of migrants who illegally cross the border from Mexico.
“It was Congress’s judgment that detaining all asylum seekers until the full-blown removal process is completed would place an unacceptable burden on our immigration system,” the court said.
It said the laws did not violate constitutional rights to due process.
The case pitted the Department of Homeland Security against Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam, an ethnic-minority Tamil from Sri Lanka who was arrested in 2017 in California, just over the Mexican border.
He applied for asylum on the grounds of persecution in his home country.
Thuraissigiam said he had been kidnapped and tortured by Sri Lankan officials who threatened to kill him, but US immigration officials placed him in the “accelerated expulsion” process.
“This ruling fails to live up to the Constitution’s bedrock principle that individuals deprived of their liberty have their day in court,” ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) attorney Lee Gelernt, who argued the case in court, said Thursday.
“This decision means that some people facing flawed deportation orders can be forcibly removed with no judicial oversight, putting their lives in grave danger.”
US law allows foreign nationals to be deported expeditiously if they are detained within two weeks of entering the country and are less than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from a land border.
If the person applies for asylum, however, their case is evaluated by non-judicial officials.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany described the ruling as a “big win” for President Trump.
