Members of Congress ask Trump to stop deporting Nicaraguan dissidents
Seven members of Congress on Thursday wrote a letter to President Trump asking that the United States stop deporting Nicaraguan political dissidents who come to the country to seek asylum.
The letter was a response to a Washington Post article published on Aug. 28 that detailed the expulsion of several such asylum seekers, who were not permitted to make asylum claims before being flown back to Nicaragua.
“Your deportations of politically persecuted Nicaraguans run counter to U.S. values and directly undermine the stated goals of U.S. policy towards Nicaragua,” the letter says.
The letter was signed by Democratic Reps. Albio Sires (N.J.), Donna Shalala (Fla.), Eliot L. Engel (N.Y.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.), Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (Fla.) and Juan Vargas (Calif.).
Under the Trump administration, the United States has repeatedly condemned the regime of President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua and his repression of his party’s political opponents. But under a pandemic-era policy, the United States is expelling Nicaraguan political dissidents directly back to the regime, without first offering them credible-fear interviews or the ability to begin asylum applications.
The letter from the seven lawmakers includes the details of three asylum seekers that The Post wrote about in late August. They are well-known political opponents in Nicaragua who were expelled from the United States after crossing the border in July. They were detained for more than two weeks without access to attorneys.
“We call for any such future asylum requests to be considered, in accordance with U.S. law, and urge your administration to cease collaborating with the Ortega regime in deporting Nicaraguans,” the letter says.
The United Nations has expressed concern about the practice, which violates the international refugee convention’s principle of non-refoulement. The U.S. government has attempted to justify the policy by referencing an order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which suggests the public health risk posed by migration during the coronavirus pandemic. The asylum seekers interviewed by The Post all tested negative for the virus while in U.S. custody, they said.
The three asylum seekers mentioned in the Post article remain in hiding in Nicaragua. They have all received threats since being deported, they said. Within hours of their return to the Nicaraguan capital of Managua, Ortega supporters posted on social media celebrating their expulsion. Nicaraguan officials stripped them of their identifications and posted police officers outside their relatives’ homes, they said.
By: Kevin Sieff
Source: The Washington Post