Today, the Supreme Court issued a ruling against certain immigrant asylum seekers. The Supreme Court’s ruling essentially means that the government can indefinitely detain certain immigrants who are seeking asylum and are claiming that they will face persecution or torture if they are deported to their native countries. Three of the justices issued dissenting opinions, but the court held 6-3 that these immigrants are not entitled to a hearing about whether they should be released while the government is reviewing their claims.
In essence, the ruling means that those immigrants are not entitled to a bond hearing. However, the case does not apply to all asylum seekers. It only involves people who had been previously deported and re-entered the United States illegally. The ruling comes into play when these immigrants make Asylum claims that they would be persecuted or tortured in their home countries if sent back. “Reasonable Fear” determinations are done to evaluate the credibility of asylum claims and this process can often take months. The issue for SCOTUS was whether the government could hold these immigrants without having an immigration judge weigh in.
