Due Process Protects You

The Refugee Act of 1980, which passed Congress unanimously, gives migrants inside the United States the right to claim asylum based on “a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.”

Since Trump began deportations without any due process, numerous American citizens have been detained, sometimes for days, without any legal basis.

Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a 20-year-old citizen of the U.S. was held in a Florida jail at the request of Trump authorities, despite his mother presenting his birth certificate and Social Security information to a judge.

Jose Hermosillo is a 19-year-old who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with his girlfriend and 9-month-old daughter. Hermosillo was visiting Tucson, when he passed by the Border Patrol headquarters, and “an agent arrested him for illegally entering the country.” Hermosillo told immigration officials that he was a U.S. citizen, but they did not believe him. His girlfriend’s aunt tracked him down at the Florence Correctional Center, an ICE detention center. He was held for 10 days before an immigration judge dismissed his case and ordered his release. ICE would not comment on his arrest.

Julio Noriega is a 54-year-old arrested by ICE officers, while he was out applying for work at area businesses. Noriega, who was born in Chicago, “was approached by ICE officers who grabbed and handcuffed him and put him into a van, without an opportunity to explain his citizenship,” according to a federal lawsuit. Noriega was held for “about 10 hours” when ICE officers “reviewed the contents of Julio’s wallet, realized he was a U.S. citizen.” He was released “with no money and no paperwork.” Noriega was arrested as part of a larger sweep of 22 individuals.

Bachir Atallah and Jessica Fakhri are a married couple detained by immigration authorities while returning by car from a family vacation in Canada. Both Atallah and Fakhri are U.S. citizens.  “They held us in two separate cells, and neither of us had shoes or a jacket,” Atallah said. “It was freezing.” Atallah became a naturalized citizen over ten years ago. The pair was released after being detained for five hours.

Permanent residents in the U.S. have also faced illegal detention and deportation as well.

Brown University Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a Lebanese citizen in the U.S. on an H-1B visa, was illegally detained and deported. She was here legally. Alawieh, who specializes in kidney medicine, was previously on a J-1 visa for “exchange students,” but Brown University subsequently sponsored her H-1B visa. Alawieh had been working at Rhode Island Hospital for the last year caring for kidney transplant recipients.

University of Minnesota graduate student Dogukan Gunaydin was arrested on March 27 at an off-campus residence. He was legally enrolled in the Carlson School of Management.

Iranian citizen Alireza Doroudi, a doctoral student at the University of Alabama, was detained by ICE without legal basis.

Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University doctoral student, was detained by ICE without legal basis. There were no criminal charges against her.

Georgetown University postdoctoral scholar and Professor Badar Khan Suri, originally from India, was detained Masked agents said his J-1 visa had been revoked. However, a judge blocked the Trump administration from deporting him as his legal challenge against his arrest plays out.

50% of respondents in a YouGov survey said Trump should immediately return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S. Just 28% said he shouldn’t.