The decision to detain asylum seekers indefinitely as the courts work through a backlog is focused on Central Americans at the U. S.-Mexico border. But those from more than 100 other countries also are being detained.
WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) — U. S. Attorney General William Barr’s decision to detain asylum seekers indefinitely as the courts work through a large backlog is focused on Central Americans at the U. S.-Mexico border. But asylum seekers from more than 100 countries also are being detained as part of the crackdown.
The backlog in immigration court has swelled to unprecedented levels with nearly 855,000 cases pending across the country.
Of the over 42,000 asylum cases decided in fiscal 2018, over half involved people from countries outside Central America, according to TRAC data compiled by Syracuse University.
James Carafano of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, views detention as an important „deterrent tool.“ Too many immigrants who do not meet the requirements for asylum relief have overburdened the courts and caused a humanitarian disaster, he said.
Civil rights advocates point to human rights violations occurring inside detention facilities that affect not only Central American immigrants, but asylum seekers from all other countries, many detained in what their attorneys called „deplorable and culturally isolating“ conditions in about 250 detention centers across the United States.
Asylum seekers Jasvir and Rajandeep Singh spent nearly 80 days on a hunger strike in protest of conditions in an El Paso, Texas, detention facility after fleeing political persecution in India.
