Throughout this year, WMRA has followed the story of a young family of four living in Staunton. The father, Olman, has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since June. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi attended his wife's asylum hearing earlier this month and discussed the outcome with Bob Leweke.
BOB LEWEKE: Randi, before we get into the latest details, can you remind us what brought this family to the U.S., to Staunton, and eventually into legal jeopardy?
RANDI B. HAGI: Olman and Leyla fled their home country, in Central America, after facing escalating gang violence that culminated in Olman being severely burned, but surviving. WMRA has agreed to refer to the couple only by his first name and her nickname, and to withhold the name of their home country, due to their fears of persecution should they be forced to return.
The couple has a nine-year-old daughter who made the journey with them to the U.S., and a two-year-old daughter who is a U.S. citizen. We previously interviewed Leyla through an interpreter about what they endured back home. Earlier this month, we discussed Olman's virtual hearing before an immigration judge, who ultimately denied his application for withholding of removal – despite the harm he endured and his lack of any criminal record. The couple's attorney appealed that decision, so Olman's case is ongoing while he remains incarcerated in the Caroline Detention Facility.
On December 11th, Leyla appeared before Judge Matthew Gordon in the Sterling Immigration Court for a hearing on her asylum application, which includes her nine-year-old daughter.
LEWEKE: You attended that asylum hearing earlier this month. Can you set that scene for us?
HAGI: The court in Sterling is in a large brick building set back in a commercial area of the city. Flyers are posted around the interior advocating for self-deportation, touting benefits such as keeping money one has earned in the U.S.; and consequences for not leaving, such as possible imprisonment.
Leyla had come prepared to answer questions about her and Olman's experiences with the gangs, their attempts to report the violence and extortion to multiple police departments, and the threats they received after Olman survived the arson attack. But right at the beginning of the hearing, the Department of Homeland Security attorney challenged Leyla's entire asylum application with the "circumvention of lawful pathways" bar. This is a rule first instituted in 2023 that makes noncitizens who cross the border without authorization ineligible for asylum if they didn't cross through an "existing lawful process," such as using the "CBP One" mobile application to schedule their entrance.
Leyla's attorney, Jeffrey Haynes, argued that the Mexican police's extortion of the couple made it nonviable for them to wait and cross the southern border lawfully.
Judge Gordon said "the court certainly has concerns" about "whether I'll even be able to reach the merits of your application for asylum" since the DHS raised that bar. He also expressed concern that documents from Olman's case were filed in Leyla's without her husband signing a waiver of confidentiality.
Gordon proceeded to say that he could still consider Leyla for withholding of removal – a legal status that prevents one from being deported to their home country, but offers less protection than asylum. But under federal law, unlike with asylum, children cannot have a derivative application for withholding of removal under their parent's application. So the judge told Leyla that even if she applied for withholding of removal, he would have to order her nine-year-old daughter deported to their home country.
LEWEKE: It sounds like that set up a very difficult choice, or maybe no choice at all, for Leyla. How did she respond?
HAGI: The judge offered one alternative – "pre-conclusion voluntary departure." That requires a person to withdraw their application for asylum before a judge rules on their case, and agree to leave the U.S. The court took an approximately 10-minute recess so Leyla could discuss her options with her attorneys.
Faced with the possibility of her nine-year-old daughter being forcibly deported without her, and with tears streaming down her face, Leyla chose voluntary departure. She returned to the courtroom and, under oath through an interpreter, told the court she would leave.
The judge gave Leyla the maximum time allowed for voluntary departure, 120 days, meaning she has to leave the country and find somewhere else to go by mid-April, while still trying to get her husband out of ICE detention.
As the attorney for DHS left the courtroom, I followed him into the hallway and asked if I could get the spelling of his name, which he refused twice. According to a LinkedIn profile for a Paxton Schwab, which appears to belong to that attorney, he graduated from Georgetown Law earlier this year.
LEWEKE: What did Leyla tell you they will do next?
HAGI: The family is figuring out what to do now, and if there are any other countries that might accept them as migrants or refugees. Their supporters have restarted an online fundraiser they first set up for Olman's legal fees and the family's rent. I'll continue to follow their case and keep you posted.
LEWEKE: Thanks again Randi for reporting on this family's situation.
HAGI: Thank you, Bob.
