Ashcroft

[jfb]

Courtesy of Body and Soul:

Attorney General John Ashcroft is reportedly planning to reverse current policy on the availability of asylum for victims of domestic violence and issue new regulations which could severely limit the ability of women fleeing many forms of gender-based human rights abuses – including sex trafficking, sexual slavery, honor killing and domestic violence - from seeking asylum in the United States.

Here's the press release from the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights. I can't find a source for the "reportedly" in the above statement, but if it's true, it'll happen March 1, before the INS moves out of Justice and into Homeland Security.

Comments

Hmm...

[dongle.livejournal.com]

I can't find any web sources for that either, but I did find a reference to domestic violence in asylum cases that Ashcroft was asked about during his confirmation:

... I believe we should treat those fleeing persecution with compassion and fairness. My commitment to fighting domestic violence and violence against women is longstanding, and I will maintain that commitment wholeheartedly at the Department of Justice.

I'm suspicious that "reportedly" here means "we made it up."

Re: Hmm...

[jfb.livejournal.com]

Could be, although I think it's more likely to mean "somebody else made it up and we believed it". The Rodi Alvarado case alone is pretty depressing, though.