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A NEW THREAT TO IMMIGRANT FAMILIES IN SONOMA - AND WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Submitted by the Wake UP Sonoma Inform and Educate Action Team A dangerous new policy is quietly unfolding in local immigration courts—and many Sonoma residents don’t even know it exists. Under a little-known legal tactic called "pretermission", asylum seekers are being ordered removed without ever being allowed to tell their story in court. This procedure, based on an “Asylum Cooperative Agreement“ with another country, skips the hearing entirely, sending people—many of whom fled violence or persecution—directly into deportation, not to their home country but to third countries they’ve never set foot in. The government is telling asylum seekers that they can seek asylum from the government of the country to which they are deported or they can self-deport to their country of origin. The policy isn’t just unfair—it’s unconstitutional. The Fifth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution guarantees due process to anyone in the United States, not just to legal residents. This means every asylum seeker has the right to present evidence and testify in court. Yet this pretermission policy, recently adopted by the federal government and now appearing in Bay Area courts, denies that right. In many cases, people have as little as ten days to respond—and without a lawyer or even basic information about their rights, their fate is often sealed before they know what’s happening. We must be clear: this is not the decision of an individual judge. Immigration judges say their hands are tied; this is a systemic shift driven by federal agencies. And while deportation may not happen at the hearing, for many other cases. ICE is now arresting people in courthouse hallways—even when the judge denies the
government’s motions. Some are detained and sent to countries where they have no family, no legal protections, and no safety. Others may be imprisoned or worse. This is happening now. In our region. To families who live and work among us.
Read the following article about it from Mission Local: “Hundreds of asylum-seekers may be sent to Honduras, Ecuador, Uganda following S.F. immigration ruling” What can you do? Learn the facts about Asylum Cooperative Agreements Donate to local non-profits that provide pro-bono legal support: Sonoma Immigrant Services or VIDAS Speak out: Share this information. Write a letter to the editor. Help others know this policy exists. Listen: If someone shares they are in removal proceedings, believe them. This is not just bureaucracy—it’s life and death.
A silent policy is no less
dangerous. Let’s not be silent. LATEST UPDATE: DECEMBER 27
”Judge halts courthouse immigration arrests by ICE in Bay Area, citing ‘irreparable harms’.”
Judge halts courthouse immigration arrests by ICE in Bay Area, citing 'irreparable harms' - Local News Matters BUT, what does this mean? Will this shift the pretermission policies? The Trump administration has violated laws repeatedly or appealed a lower court judge’s ruling. This is something to keep our eyes on in the very near future.
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