Amos Yee
granted asylum in the US after Department of Homeland Security
appeal dismissed
SINGAPORE: Teen blogger Amos Yee has been granted asylum by a US
immigration court despite opposition from the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS), his attorney announced on Tuesday (Sep
26).
Sandra Grossman, a pro bono counsel to Yee from legal firm Grossman
Law, said in a statement that the Board of Immigration Appeals
(BIA) had dismissed DHS' appeal opposing a decision by a lower
court to grant Yee asylum.
The court wrote in its ruling last Thursday that Yee, 18, had a
"well founded fear of future persecution" if returned to Singapore
and agreed with the lower court judge that Singapore's prosecution
of Yee was "a pretext" to silence his political opinions, according
to Ms Grossman.
“Now I can criticise the Singapore government without being sent to
prison,” Yee said after his release.
The Singaporean was sentenced in July 2015 to four weeks' jail for
wounding the religious feelings of Christians and Muslims, and was
sentenced to another six weeks' jail for the same offence last
September.
Yee's mother, Madam Mary Toh, confirmed last December that he was
detained in the United States. He has remained in detention,
despite the lower court's decision to grant him asylum in
March.
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Ms Grossman said in the statement that her firm decried the
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)'s decision to detain Yee
while DHS' appeal was pending, "especially after his asylum case
was granted and after DHS made no arguments, nor presented
evidence, that Yee is a threat to national security or to the
public".
"Grossman Law calls on ICE and the administration to revisit its
detention policies and condemns the prolonged detention of those
fleeing persecution and seeking refuge in the United States," she
said.
She also said that the "possibility also remains for a DHS appeal,
though this is unlikely given the Board's unambiguous
decision".
Source: CNA/mz