Asylum-seekers with no criminal records are being detained around the country as the Trump administration seeks to remove immigrants looking for legal pathways to remain in the United States. The move is a major departure from previous practice, under which asylum applicants were allowed to work and build lives in U.S. communities as their cases played out.
The arrests follow a pattern, attorneys and advocates told NBC News. One day, the asylum-seekers are with their families, often after having lived in the U.S. for years. Then an errand or a drive to work ends with their being swept into ICE’s vast detention system. There, they face difficult conditions and a more adversarial immigration process, along with pressure to self-deport, the attorneys and families say. Their arrests have been reported around the U.S., including in Minnesota, New York, Virginia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Maine, Alaska, Wisconsin, California and Texas.
Six of attorney Robin Nice’s
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