If you come to the United States and express fear of returning to your country, you cannot be deported until you've had an interview with an asylum officer. You also cannot be deported while an appeal is pending or under review. Whether or not xenophobic fear-mongerers like it, this is what the federal law of this country states. But one civil rights group is claiming that Immigration & Customs Enforcement is knowingly breaking that law.
Sign now to demand the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties thoroughly investigate these horrific claims, and determine if ICE is illegally deporting asylum-seekers!
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, some asylum-seekers never had a legitimate "fear interview" to adequately explain why they fled their home country and why they will be concerned for their health and safety if they are forced to return. The SPLC alleges that deportations are happening before those seeking asylum can even get a hearing before a judge, or in some cases, while their file is under review or an appeal is pending. One attorney at the SPLC described the situation as so dire that she had "never seen anything like it before."
If these allegations are true, thousands of innocent people attempting to migrate for health and safety may be in danger. In fact, a few of the asylum-seekers in question that were allegedly not given their full interview process for asylum have already suffered violence due to political repression and police brutality in their home countries.
As immigration reform activists have pointed out time and time again, this is a nation founded by immigrants. The Department of Homeland Security must take these claims seriously, and investigate them fully within their Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties! Sign the petition now to ensure the federal government takes these allegations seriously!
