PORTLAND, Ore. — In a series of court filings, attorneys for a transgender asylum seeker from Mexico detained in Portland this week argued for her transfer back to Oregon and her release on bail, arguing that federal authorities have failed to act "in good faith."
The 24-year-old asylum seeker, identified only as O-J-M, is currently held in a Tacoma detention center, having been transferred there by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The latest filing from O-J-M's lawyer details a confusing, opaque and at times Kafkaesque process by which federal immigration authorities have snatched up even immigrants who are complying with government procedures.
"Respondents manipulated the immigration system to achieve what the law plainly did not allow in violation of their duty: O-J-M-’s detent