Critics of immigrant detention 'would rather have no borders,' SC congressman says

A South Carolina Republican congressman says a court's ruling against a policy of detaining asylum seekers at the border is a win for those who "would rather have no borders."

U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-Rock Hill, told Fox News on Tuesday he is opposed to a ruling this week that would end long-term detention of people who enter the United States claiming asylum for persecution in their home countries.

"If you go down to the border, and I've talked to a lot of the congressmen who have, it's just a mass of people," Norman said. "How do you prove credible evidence that they're in danger if they go back to their country? It's subjective. You have a lot of criminals. You have a lot of people who just want to get into this country. How do you prove that? You don't.

"It just shows you the disregard for our great ICE agents and the fact that they would rather have no borders and just let everybody into this country, which is wrong," Norman said.

Norman was responding to a Monday ruling that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot hold asylum seekers indefinitely if they pass what's called a "credible fear" interview and are awaiting a hearing on an asylum claim.

The ruling comes in a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a Haitian teacher who has been granted asylum in two separate hearings but has remained in detention for more than 18 months. The judge ruled he should received a release on humanitarian grounds.

The ruling "stands for the principle that the government cannot apply a blanket policy of detaining asylum seekers for the purpose of deterring people from coming into the United States to seek asylum," said ACLU deputy legal director Cecillia Wang.

Immigration issues have been at the forefront recently because of outrage over the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant parents and their children when they are detained crossing the border. But Norman criticized opposition to the policy and calls from some to abolish ICE completely.

"The issue of having children separated from the families is tragic," Norman said, "but with the zero-tolerance policy the president has, what parent would bring their children here knowing that there's a possibility of being separated?"

He said limiting detention would cause more problems "because you don't know criminal-wise what they're going to do in our country, who they're bringing in with them."

"The detainment is the basic thing to stop them with. You take that tool away, I think it's wrong, and it just shows you how far left many of these groups are."

Norman promised Congress soon would take up a revised immigration bill that would include money for a border wall and other changes to the legal immigration system.

This story was originally published July 5, 2018 at 1:45 PM.