One of the most harmful policy changes since inauguration day has been the government's position for the first time that many asylum seekers are not eligible for bail from ICE detention. This policy was announced through a series of decisions by the Board of Immigration Appeals. This has the practical effect of subjecting most asylum seekers to months or potentially years of detention while litigating their claims.

Nikolai and his family are members of an ethnic minority group in Russia. Ethnic minorities have been disproportionately recruited to fight and die on the frontlines in Ukraine. Nikolai and his wife are also outspoken opponents of the war and members of a political organization that opposes the Putin regime. Fearing persecution in Russia, they fled to the United States to seek asylum in 2023. They settled in Philadelphia, applied for asylum, and have been attending their required appointments at various immigration offices for the last two years. 

In September Nikolai was detained in front of his family at a regular check-in appointment without warning. Nikolai’s detention was very challenging for the family. His wife was forced to care for their infant son and school-age daughter on her own. Nikolai had been the one who worked to support the family, so his detention brought immense financial strain on his wife and children. Fortunately, the family has had a lot of support from Asian Americans United and other community members.  

Soon after his detention, Nikolai’s PAIFUP attorney filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal court. The habeas petition challenged the denial of a bond hearing and Nikolai’s detention without any due process. In mid-November, a federal judge issued a decision ordering that Nikolai be released. Nikolai was released the next day. 

Nikolai is now back at home with his wife and children. His PAIFUP attorney will continue to represent the family in their asylum cases in the Immigration Court.  

PAIFUP attorneys won a grant of asylum and release from ICE detention for Anthony, a Jamaican father of two. Anthony fled Jamaica to seek asylum after facing nearly 7 years of persecution, including death threats, assaults, extortion, an attempt on his life and the murder of four of his cousins, in connection with his outspoken political activism in Jamaica. After arriving in the United States, Anthony passed a credible fear interview and timely filed his asylum claim. He became the primary caretaker for his 6-year-old daughter, who also fled to the United States soon after Anthony and was recently diagnosed with autism. He obtained work authorization and focused on providing a stable and safe life for his daughter while awaiting his asylum court date. 

However, in May 2025 Anthony was charged with a misdemeanor due to a verbal argument with his girlfriend; although his girlfriend never wanted to press charges, Anthony was arrested by federal agents while leaving his house to attend a preliminary court date. The criminal charges were promptly dismissed, but Anthony was subjected to ICE detention without bond due to new interpretations of law.

Upon his ICE detention, PAIFUP attorneys entered their appearance in Anthony’s case and diligently prepared his entire claim while he was detained at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center. Anthony was a great asset to the legal team, helping to find evidence and witnesses for his case, and never giving up despite harsh conditions in detention and several procedural twists in his case. In late September, the presiding immigration judge granted Anthony asylum on account of his political opinion. ICE did not appeal the decision, and Anthony has now been released and is reunited with his family as an asylee. Congratulations to Anthony! 

PAIFUP won another habeas victory in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for our client Ahmed, a Mauritanian asylum seeker who we have represented in non-detained removal proceedings since mid-2024. Ahmed came to the United States seeking asylum as a gay man after facing severe torture and persecution in his country, and he did everything "right": he timely filed his asylum claim, sought legal representation, attended every hearing and ICE check-in, kept his address updated, and obtained lawful work authorization. He had his final hearing scheduled for 2026 and was actively preparing his evidence.

In October of 2025, Ahmed went to a routine ICE check-in with his PAIFUP attorney and was informed that he was being detained, as the BIA’s new interpretation of the law under Matter of Yajure Hurtado subjected him to mandatory detention. Though his re-detention was traumatic and unnecessary, PAIFUP attorneys sprung to action and filed a habeas petition the same day Ahmed was detained. Within three weeks, a hearing was held in the Eastern District of PA regarding the lawfulness of Ahmed’s detention, and days later the judge granted the habeas petition and ordered Ahmed to be released within 24 hours. Ahmed was released from Moshannon (where he had been transferred) and is reunited with his close friends and family. PAIFUP’s victory in the case is part of a larger wave of successful habeas claims across the country, all challenging the legality of the new standards for mandatory detention. Congratulations, Ahmed! 

Ali is a young man from a country in Central Asia. He is a husband and a father of three, who had a small family business back in his home country, until the Government started harassing him. He was being persecuted for his ethnicity and his religious beliefs.

Ali arrived in the U.S. in 2023, after fleeing his country due to the persecution and torture he suffered at the hands of the Government. He was falsely accused of trafficking goods from another country into his store. First, the Government tried to extort him, asking for large amounts of money. When they didn’t succeed in their request, they confiscated all his goods and closed his store, leaving him without an income for his family. He was arrested and tortured by the police. He was brutally beaten, left without food, and sleep-deprived for days. He was so severely tortured that he needed hospitalization for a period of three weeks. He tried filing a complaint with the Prosecutor’s office about what had happened, only to be arrested once again under the same conditions. This time, he was abducted in his own home, in front of his family.

Apart from being accused of trafficking goods, he was also accused of treason, simply because he followed a journalist's account on social media. The police tried to coerce him into making a confession, but, because he kept denying the allegations and refusing to make a false confession, the torture escalated. The officers placed a bag on his head, suffocating him. He was told that, unless he confessed, the torture would continue. He was threatened with having his family also incarcerated. At that point, he could not take it any longer, and he signed a document he was not allowed to review. He was told that he was being charged with three criminal offenses and that he would be facing 15 to 20 years in prison.

Both times Ali was under arrest, his father had to pay a bribe in order for the police to release him. After he recovered from his injuries from the second arrest, he made the decision to escape. After he left the country, the police kept harassing his family, especially his father. A few months after Ali left, his father was taken into the police station, where he was interrogated and tortured. His father died two days later. To this day, his family continues to receive periodic visits, asking for Ali’s whereabouts.

Upon his arrival in the US, Ali was paroled in and given a court date. He timely filed his asylum application and had already received his work authorization card when he was arrested by ICE, as a "collateral" arrest, in February 2025. He had no criminal record but was subject to mandatory detention under new case law. With the help of his family, as well as a country conditions expert, we were able to gather evidence to prove the horrendous torturous pattern Ali was subjected to in his home country, and the conditions that certain ethnic groups and religions suffer there. After nine months in detention, Ali was finally released as an asylee after ICE decided not to appeal his case.