Federal Judge Blocks Trump Admin Move to Keep Asylum-Seekers Locked Up

A federal judge blocked a Trump administration policy to deny asylum-seekers bond hearings that would allow them to wait for their upcoming court cases out of detention, The Associated Press reports. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman ruled that individuals who seek asylum protections and are detained are entitled to bond hearings—due to the Fifth Amendment’s “longstanding prohibition against indefinite civil detention with no opportunity to test its necessity.” Earlier this year, Attorney General William Barr announced that the government would no longer offer bond hearings for asylum-seekers and would keep them in custody instead. Per Judge Pechman’s ruling, the government must provide a bond hearing to any asylum-seeker within seven days of their request. If not granted a hearing within those seven days, migrants must be released.