National ruling issued on immigration court policy that began in WA

A burning question hangs over a national court ruling declaring the Trump administration’s restrictive bond policy for detained immigrants is unlawful: Will immigration judges abide by it?

“In all other times, I would have said ‘Of course they’re going to abide by it,'” said Matt Adams, legal director for the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, which helped represent plaintiffs in the class-action case. But, he said, a similar court case playing out in Tacoma suggests that outcome is far from assured.

What immigration judges ultimately do — possibly with guidance from their bosses within the Department of Justice — will determine whether thousands of immigrants will have a chance of release from increasingly crowded jail-like facilities while waiting days, months or years for their cases