WEBVTT - Plan to Deny Bail to Jailed Asylum Seekers is Blocked

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the Bloomberg Law Podcast. I'm June Grosso. Every

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<v Speaker 1>day we bring you insight and analysis into the most

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<v Speaker 1>important legal news of the day. You can find more

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<v Speaker 1>episodes of the Bloomberg Law Podcast on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud

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<v Speaker 1>and on Bloomberg dot com Slash Podcasts. Another court defeat

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<v Speaker 1>for President Trump and his effort to prevent migrants along

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<v Speaker 1>the southern border from being released into the country. A

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<v Speaker 1>federal judge in Seattle has blocked the plan to jail

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<v Speaker 1>immigrants seeking asylum and denied them bail if they crossed

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<v Speaker 1>into the US border without permission. Joining me is Cardike Marotra,

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg News legal reporter. So Cardike start by telling us

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<v Speaker 1>about Trump's plan. So this is actually Attorney General William

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<v Speaker 1>Barr's plan. What happened was, over the course of this administration,

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<v Speaker 1>asylum applicants have been incarcerated for extended periods of time.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not explicitly unique to this administration. The Obama administration

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<v Speaker 1>did something similar. But these plaintiffs had sought a pulmonary

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<v Speaker 1>injunction requiring the administration to give them bail hearings, and

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<v Speaker 1>this court had won. Then in April, a G. Bar

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<v Speaker 1>Um issued a notice stating that there is no requirement

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<v Speaker 1>that asylum applicants who seek asylum within the United States,

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<v Speaker 1>not at the border, be given a prompt bail hearing

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<v Speaker 1>uh and ultimately this judge said that that is actually unconstitutional.

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<v Speaker 1>She also set forward some specifics for the hearings ahead.

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<v Speaker 1>What did she say has to happen. So what happens

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<v Speaker 1>is in the process of applying for asylum, the applicants

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<v Speaker 1>have to demonstrate a credible fear of being forced to

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<v Speaker 1>return to their home countries, and if they do demonstrate that,

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<v Speaker 1>then they are eligible for asylum. However, that's just one

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<v Speaker 1>step in the process. And so this judge has said

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<v Speaker 1>that if they are granted that credible fear and they

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<v Speaker 1>will proceed in the asylum process, then the immigration judge

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<v Speaker 1>must hold a bail hearing within seven days of a

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<v Speaker 1>request for a bail hearing, and if they do not

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<v Speaker 1>grant a bail hearing immediately, that applicant must be released. Also,

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<v Speaker 1>immigration courts must, I guess, be more transparent in the

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<v Speaker 1>way that they are conducting these hearings, and so transcripts

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<v Speaker 1>and audio recordings of proceedings must be made available. So

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<v Speaker 1>apprehensions of prospective asylum seekers have more than doubled in

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<v Speaker 1>the last year, according to Customs and Border Protection. Would

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<v Speaker 1>this order by bar have just added more people to

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<v Speaker 1>the overcrowded facilities. Uh? Yes, yes, it would ensure that

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<v Speaker 1>folks who are incarcerated will remain incarcerated until the US

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<v Speaker 1>government resolves their asylum application. One could presume that if

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<v Speaker 1>the government is willing to consider these bail hearings and

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<v Speaker 1>actually release applicants unbailed, that it would release the pressure

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<v Speaker 1>on on facilities where they are being incarcerated, where we've

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<v Speaker 1>read quite a lot about conditions being quite poor. White

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<v Speaker 1>House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham criticized the ruling and attacked the judge,

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<v Speaker 1>as Trump has done before with the decisions and immigration.

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<v Speaker 1>No single district judge has legitimate authority to impose his

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<v Speaker 1>or her open border views on the country. Does this

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<v Speaker 1>refer to the president who appointed this judge? Being democratic? Likely?

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<v Speaker 1>It has been part of the Trump administrations and President

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<v Speaker 1>Trump's attacks on judges across the country in the past.

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<v Speaker 1>We frequently see them labeled as Obama activists. Judges. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, I think the administration believes that and Uh.

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<v Speaker 1>They've argued in court repeatedly that they have the ultimate

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<v Speaker 1>authority to determine the country's border and immigration policy, and

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<v Speaker 1>any judge, be it an Obama pointed drudge or or

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<v Speaker 1>a Bush appointed judge or anyone else, cannot interfere. They

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<v Speaker 1>do not have the judicial authority to to overrule the

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<v Speaker 1>the executive And so that that argument will again be

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<v Speaker 1>tested as this case is litigated in higher courts. That

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<v Speaker 1>was my next question. Has the White House said or

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<v Speaker 1>the Justice Department said, if they're going to appeal this Uh.

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<v Speaker 1>They have not yet, but it is quite likely because

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<v Speaker 1>the U. S. Supreme Court ruled last year the applicants

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<v Speaker 1>at the border are not entitled to bail hearing. So

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<v Speaker 1>if you stand in line for days, seek asylum and

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<v Speaker 1>are detained, you do demonstrate a credible fear. Uh, there's

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<v Speaker 1>no guarantee that you will receive a prompt uh hearing. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>this case involves individuals who have entered the US through

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<v Speaker 1>other means, waiting over water, crossing over mountains to get

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<v Speaker 1>into the United States, and then you see an immigration

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<v Speaker 1>officer or border patrol agent elsewhere. Um uh. And so

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<v Speaker 1>in that earlier case, the Supreme Court said that there

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<v Speaker 1>is no eligibility for our constitutional right to an asylum

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<v Speaker 1>hearing in this case, we're likely to see the Trump

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<v Speaker 1>administration use that ruling to appeal up the chain. Is

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<v Speaker 1>this the so called catch and release that President Trump

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<v Speaker 1>complains about, saying that once you once they have the

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<v Speaker 1>the immigrants, and then they release them, they don't come

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<v Speaker 1>back for further court hearings. Exactly. The Trump administration's concern

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<v Speaker 1>is that if you offer bailuh to an asylum applicant,

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<v Speaker 1>you've released them into the interior. And so there's question

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<v Speaker 1>as to whether um, these individuals will will come back

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<v Speaker 1>for their um their asylum hearings because you've you've released

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<v Speaker 1>them to United States. There's data that indicates that that

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<v Speaker 1>that premise is simply not true. And um Cardi case.

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<v Speaker 1>If you know, do many do most immigrants get bail?

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<v Speaker 1>I mean they don't. They don't have You would suspect

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<v Speaker 1>that they're they're coming here, they're they're poor and they

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<v Speaker 1>don't have much money. Do they are they make bail?

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<v Speaker 1>You know? The question first is whether they have a

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<v Speaker 1>credible fear, and if they do demonstrate that credible fear,

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<v Speaker 1>then the most applicants. Uh, if they do get their

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<v Speaker 1>bail hearing, do receive bail? Yes? Okay, So, um, let's

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<v Speaker 1>talk a little bit about some of the other things

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<v Speaker 1>that the Trump administration has tried and failed as far

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<v Speaker 1>as stopping immigrants at the border. What other legal what

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<v Speaker 1>other legal avenues have been closed to them? Sure, well

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<v Speaker 1>they've They've started by by metering applicants uh, and that

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<v Speaker 1>still continues. But their effort to effectively shut down the

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<v Speaker 1>asylum program or or force individuals to wait in Mexico

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<v Speaker 1>have been litigated and relitigated. Um. Currently returned to Mexico

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<v Speaker 1>is allowed. That's one of the few wins the Trump

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<v Speaker 1>administration has enjoyed. But they have effectively been prohibited from

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<v Speaker 1>from broadly shutting down the program altogether and and and

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<v Speaker 1>turning people away simply for requesting asylum. Right, Thanks so much, Cardike.

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<v Speaker 1>It is continuingly a news item there as far as

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<v Speaker 1>these different uh immigration plans by the Trump administration. That's

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<v Speaker 1>Cardke Morotra, Bloomberg News Legal Reporter. Thanks for listening to

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<v Speaker 1>the Bloomberg Law podcast. You can subscribe and listen to

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<v Speaker 1>the show on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, and on Bloomberg dot

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<v Speaker 1>Com slash Podcast. I'm June Brosso. This is Bloomberg