Document: Asylum Seekers With Credible Fear Ineligible for Release on Bond, Barr Rules

Mikhaila Fogel
Wednesday, April 17, 2019, 10:27 AM

Attorney General Bill Barr ruled on April 17 that asylum seekers who present at the border and establish a "credible fear of prosecution or torture" are ineligible for release on bond once they are transferred from expedited removal proceedings to full deportation proceedings. The Department of Homeland Security may still choose to release asylum seekers, but cannot be compelled by immigration judges to do so.

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Attorney General Bill Barr ruled on April 17 that asylum seekers who present at the border and establish a "credible fear of prosecution or torture" are ineligible for release on bond once they are transferred from expedited removal proceedings to full deportation proceedings. The Department of Homeland Security may still choose to release asylum seekers, but cannot be compelled by immigration judges to do so. Barr's ruling reverses a previous decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals, which held that only some asylum seekers transferred after establishing a credible fear are subject to mandatory detention. The ruling is available below.

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Mikhaila Fogel

Mikhaila Fogel

@MikhailaRFogel
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Mikhaila Fogel was an associate editor at Lawfare and a research analyst at the Brookings Institution. She previously worked as a legislative correspondent for national security and foreign affairs issues in the Office of Sen. Susan Collins. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, where she majored in history and literature and minored in government and Arabic.

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