A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) policy of detaining Central American mothers and children fleeing violence in their countries and seeking asylum in the United States.
In a decision described in a 40-page documentJudge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the practice of holding women and children seeking the protection of asylum in detention for weeks or even months is probably illegal and "causes irreparable harm" to these mothers and children.
The action comes two months after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit arguing that the detentions were being carried out as part of a strategy to discourage potential Central American immigrants from crossing the border to seek asylum.
Following a massive immigration of women and children from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador during the summer of last year, the Obama administration began holding women and children who were apprehended at the border and seeking asylum in ICE centers in Texas, instead of releasing them on bond while their cases were reviewed and awaiting asylum hearings, as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) previously did.
The ACLU lawsuit was filed based on the case of 10 women who fled their countries with their minor children, but were detained upon illegal entry into the United States.
Subsequently, each of these women was able to demonstrate a "credible fear" of persecution in their home countries, the first step in pursuing an asylum case.
Judge Boasberg's action is a preliminary measure, as the controversial detention policy must be fully examined in a formal court hearing.
Below is a report on the subject, for which I was interviewed by Univision:
