Judge strikes down Trump asylum policy

(The Hill) A federal judge on Wednesday struck down most of the policies former Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued that made it almost impossible for victims of domestic and gang violence to seek asylum. Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said the policies which created a stricter test to satisfy the credible fear" standard for asylum claims were unlawful. He also ordered the government to return to the United States the plaintiffs who were unlawfully deported under the policy. The policy changes came in an immigration case in which Sessions reversed a grant of asylum for a Salvadoran woman who claimed to have fled years of abuse by her then-husband. In that case Sessions said victims of domestic violence or gang violence perpetrated by nongovernmental actors generally will not qualify for asylum.