The Trump administration plans to deny bail to some asylum seekers at the southern border, amid a surge of Central American immigrant families, reports the Wall Street Journal. If the ruling issued by Attorney General William Barr takes effect, it could mean that asylum seekers could spend more time in jail while their cases are decided. The ruling has limited practical implications because the administration is barred from holding families for more than 20 days under a court settlement and has opted to stop separating children and adults. Barr issued the ruling Tuesday as part of his power to set rules for immigration courts. He overruled a decision made by the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2005.
The government has said it no longer has space to detain most of the thousands of immigrants arriving daily at the U.S. border with Mexico. The administration says the arrivals of people seeking asylum, often in large groups and including children, have brought the system to a breaking point. An 855,000-case court backlog means families that file claims could wait months or years to have them heard. Officials are seeking legislation to change the rules that prohibit the holding of children past 20 days. The administration is weighing giving parents a choice of being voluntarily separated from their children while they are jailed, waiting for a judge’s ruling on their asylum case, or waiving their rights and agreeing to be jailed together. “Seeking asylum is a human right, not a crime, and families forced to flee for their lives shouldn’t be treated like criminals,” said Charanya Krishnaswami of Amnesty International USA.