Immigrant Still In Custody Despite Judge's Ruling In Favor Of Asylum
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's been almost a week since an immigration judge in Chicago ruled that an 18-year-old from Singapore should be granted asylum here, but the teenager has yet to be released from federal custody.
Last Friday, after the immigration judge in Chicago ruled in favor of Amos Yee, his pro bono attorney Sandra Grossman thought he'd be freed from detention by Monday.
"Then I was informed a couple of days ago that they would not be releasing him from detention," she said.
Grossman said it appears Homeland Security is holding Yee in case the government decides to appeal.
"Which is pretty unwarranted, and possibly unlawful," she said. "There's absolutely no reason in law why someone like Amos and others like him should continue to be detained after an independent judge has already found that they're refugees under international law."
Grossman said she has filed a renewed request for Yee's release.
Yee was detained at O'Hare International Airport three months ago when he asked for asylum. He had been jailed in Singapore for speaking out against the Singapore government.
Grossman said she thinks Yee is still being detained at a facility in Wisconsin, but she said, under the Trump administration, immigration detainees have been moved without telling their lawyers.
