Jeff Sessions said domestic violence victims can no longer qualify for asylum, and this is appalling

For the past year and a half, the Trump administration has been openly anti-immigrant and anti-refugee, implementing cruel deportation policies and separating immigrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. Now, the administration has taken things a step further: On June 11th, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced his decision to end asylum for domestic violence victims.

After reviewing several asylum cases involving domestic violence, Sessions ruled that victims would no longer qualify for the protected immigration status.

At the heart of the issue is a decision known as the Matter of A-B-, which ruled in 2014 that a married Guatemalan woman who was being abused by her husband belonged to a “particular social group.” To be successfully granted asylum, refugees must prove that they face persecution based on part of their identity — including membership in a social group. Sessions decided that domestic violence victims could not be considered a “particular social group” and thus no longer qualify for asylum.

"The prototypical refugee flees her home country because the government has persecuted her, he wrote in his decision. “An alien may suffer threats and violence in a foreign country for any number of reasons relating to her social, economic, family, or other personal circumstances. Yet the asylum statute does not provide redress for all misfortune."

NEWS: Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the Trump administration will reject requests for asylum on the basis of domestic violence or gang violence.https://t.co/NlaXhgBIJh pic.twitter.com/brnVWtG28P

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) June 11, 2018

While the decision directly affects domestic violence victims from Central America, there are much broader implications as well. Sessions’ ruling also stated that victims of any crime must prove that their home country has “condoned the private actions or demonstrated an inability to protect the victims” if they want to receive asylum.

"Asylum was never meant to alleviate all problems — even all serious problems — that people face every day all over the world," he said this morning in a speech about the decision.

BREAKING: Attorney General Jeff Sessions just singlehandedly barred victims of domestic violence from applying for asylum in the U.S. Today's decision will condemn thousands of abuse victims to certain brutality and death.

Read more about the case here: https://t.co/zwQVPanWrG

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) June 11, 2018

As Slatepointed out, Sessions is a noted critic of asylum protections. In 2017, for example, he claimed that the system experiences “rampant abuse and fraud” (which isn’t exactly true).

While it’s true that asylum seekers must be fleeing from dangerous situations, in many cases, abusive relationships can become deadly, and even “strong” women might have trouble escaping. Sessions’ decision is anti-refugee and anti-woman, and we can only hope that it will be reversed soon.