The decision to intervene in a Mexican national’s otherwise unremarkable asylum case is a warning to immigration board members that even their unpublished decisions are being scrutinized, former immigration judge Jeffrey Chase told The Washington Post via email.
“In the past, such decisions flew under the radar,” Chase wrote.
Other critics said Barr’s move should concern everyone — not just those in immigration. Half a dozen immigration experts who spoke to The Post said Barr’s use of his certification power in this case erodes the neutrality and due process that should exist in immigration court. They also cited recent moves by Justice Department, such as creating an office to denaturalize immigrants or using an immigrant’s confidential therapy notes in a deportation case against them, as evidence of the Trump administration’s willingness to break norms to achieve its goals.
