14 Feb 2021
7 MPP Orders Rescinded: Bollat Vasquez Preliminary Injunction
"Seven asylum-seekers, including children, will reunite with their families in Massachusetts and safely pursue their applications within the United States, in an ACLU victory against a Trump-era policy. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani yesterday issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Massachusetts and Fish & Richardson on behalf of Massachusetts families with loved ones who were forced into Mexico. ... The Biden administration announced last week that the U.S. government would soon start to allow some asylum-seekers who were stranded in Mexico to enter the U.S. so they can complete their immigration proceedings with family members. The ACLU of Massachusetts and Fish & Richardson filed this lawsuit in March 2020. Two months later, a federal judge ordered the government to allow the families to safely pursue their applications in the U.S. In December, the ACLU amended its lawsuit to add three additional families; yesterday, a federal judge ordered the government to allow the seven asylum-seekers to enter the U.S. The plaintiffs endured between 16 and 18 months of danger and abject misery simply for the chance to seek protection in the United States. Following yesterday’s injunction, all of them have now been processed out of the MPP and released so that they may be reunited with their families in Massachusetts."