White House slams federal judge's detention ruling as 'at war with the rule of law'

WASHINGTON, July 4 (MENA) - A federal judge has halted a Trump Administration order that allowed for the indefinite detention of people who came to the U.S. to seek asylum, in a ruling that the White House said was "at war with the rule of law."

The nationwide injunction issued by Seattle District Judge Marsha Pechman put on hold Attorney General William Barr's order from April that U.S. authorities would deny bond hearings to some migrants detained for being in the U.S. illegally, even if they had established a "credible fear" claim regarding conditions in their country of origin, ABC News reported on Thursday.

Prior to Barr's order, an applicant who met that standard could remain in the U.S. and not be detained while the asylum application was pending.

"It is the finding of this Court that it is unconstitutional to deny these class members a bond hearing while they await a final determination of their asylum request," Pechman wrote in her order.

"The court finds that plaintiffs have established a constitutionally-protected interest in their liberty, a right to due process, which includes a hearing before a neutral decision maker to assess the necessity of their detention and a likelihood of success on the merits of that issue."

The ruling said that the government must grant eligible asylum-seekers a bond hearing within seven days of their initial detention, and that if no hearing is held in that period, the detained migrant must be released.