SAN DIEGO, CA – This week, Judge Dana Sabraw rejected the Biden Administration’s attempts to indefinitely stay or dismiss Doe v. Mayorkas, a case challenging the government’s practice of denying access to counsel to people fleeing persecution who are forced to undergo nonrefoulement interviews along the California-Mexico border in order to be able to pursue their case for asylum in the United States, under to the Trump-era “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP). Represented by the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law and the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, plaintiffs, Cristian and Diana Doe, can continue their legal fight for access to counsel in nonrefoulment interviews, which determine whether individuals in MPP who fear harm in Mexico will be allowed to pursue their asylum claims from inside the United States or instead returned to danger. This week’s order comes in response to the government’s request to have the case indefinitely stayed or dismissed as moot just weeks after its reimplementation of MPP along the California-Mexico border. 

Cristian and Diana Doe fled Guatemala with their five children after they were extorted, assaulted, and threatened with death. In Mexico, they faced additional persecution, but when they requested asylum in the United States, the family was returned to Tijuana under MPP where they faced ongoing harm. After winning a ruling guaranteeing them access to their lawyers, the Doe family successfully passed their nonrefoulement interview and was permitted to pursue their asylum claims from within the United States. 

“The government's attempt to swat this case away illuminates the cruelty of the Biden Administration’s positions on asylum and due process at the border,” said Monika Y. Langarica, staff attorney with the UCLA Law Center for Immigration Law and Policy and counsel in Doe v. Mayorkas. “Doe v. Mayorkas seeks to secure the most basic right of access to counsel to individuals and families fleeing persecution and torture. The government was wrong to seek to have this case stayed or dismissed just weeks after it restarted MPP along the California-Mexico border; we welcome the court order denying the requests. We continue to call on the administration to take all actions available to it to end MPP and all policies that obstruct access to asylum at the border." 

Judge Sabraw previously issued a class-wide preliminary injunction in this case, guaranteeing all individuals like Cristian and Diana who were detained in government custody for MPP nonrefoulement interviews along the California-Mexico border the right to consult their attorneys in preparation for and during the high-stakes interviews. After the Biden Administration terminated MPP in June 2021, the Ninth Circuit vacated the injunction as moot and it denied Cristian and Diana’s request to have the injunction reinstated after the Biden Administration was forced to restart MPP in August 2021. However, despite the government’s attempts to have it stayed or dismissed as moot, the case continues before the district court, permitting plaintiffs to continue their legal challenge.  

“We are pleased that the court’s ruling will allow the case to proceed, while we continue to fight for fundamental fairness in our asylum process and to treat people arriving at our border with justice and dignity,” said Bardis Vakili, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, and counsel in Doe v. Wolf. “People who have travelled so far and risked so much to seek safety in the U.S. deserve nothing less than a fair process, with access to their attorney to help them navigate our complicated immigration system. This is especially critical for people in Border Patrol custody, where attorney access is routinely denied.” 

Founded in 2020, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law expands the law school's role as a national leader in immigration law and policy, generating innovative ideas at the intersection of immigration scholarship and practice and serving as a hub for transforming those ideas into meaningful changes in immigration policy. 

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