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Supreme Court Affirms Protection Against Torture
Posted on Jun 03 2020
Printable PDF version of press release.
June 2, 2020—The Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota welcomes the decision of the Supreme Court in Nasrallah v. Barr, upholding the right of a noncitizen to appeal an immigration judge’s denial of his claim for protection under the Convention Against Torture. Nidal Khalid Nasrallah is a Lebanese native who is at risk of torture by ISIS and Hezbollah if deported to Lebanon. U.S. and international law say that someone cannot be deported to a country where they will face torture.
ILCM joined in an amicus brief in this case, which argued that, “Immigration judges adjudicate torture claims within an overtaxed system lacking sufficient safeguards against error.” ILCM Executive Director Veena Iyer praised the decision, explaining, “The right to appeal to a federal court is particularly crucial today. With immigration courts overworked and politicized, Nasrallah and others in similar situations need the protection of review by independent federal court judges.”
The Court’s 7-2 decision was written by conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch. Only Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.
The National Immigrant Justice Center led the alliance of legal service providers that filed the amicus brief. NIJC Director of Appellate Litigation Chuck Roth said, “Today’s Supreme Court decision allows courts to reverse immigration court decisions that wrongly deny torture protection. It confirms the argument we have been advancing for many years. This is an important step toward accountability for immigration court decisions, though it is only a small step toward a return to decency in our immigration system.”