ACLU Supporter –

I'm on my way to the Supreme Court to argue a landmark case that you might not have heard about. We're arguing to protect the right of judicial review for asylum seekers, whose fates are too often in the hands of ICE and CBP agents with unchecked power to make life-changing decisions with almost no oversight.

Our client is Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam, a Sri Lankan asylum seeker marked for a fast-track deportation process called "expedited removal." He came to the U.S. seeking asylum after being tortured for his political activities in Sri Lanka. Despite believing his story, a U.S. asylum officer erroneously marked him ineligible for protection, ordering his removal. Under the rules of expedited removal, a federal judge had no right to review his case – until we took his appeal and won at the Ninth Circuit.

Now, the government wants to strip Mr. Thuraissigiam of the right to have his day in court, and they're hoping the Supreme Court will help.

The stakes of this case are high. The outcome will determine whether ICE and CBP have virtually carte blanche ability to send asylum seekers back to the countries they fled with no federal judicial oversight, in a process that can take only a few days.

Read more about our plaintiff's story and the ramifications of his case on the entire asylum process.

The need for checks and balances on the power of immigration authorities has never been more urgent. We can't let the government get away with putting people's lives in danger due to lack of oversight.

Thanks for being a part of this fight,

Lee Gelernt
Deputy Director of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project