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U.S. Told to Move on With Asylum Process for Detained Immigrants

U.S. Told to Move on With Asylum Process for Detained Immigrants

(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration was told to stop stalling and process asylum requests by immigrants detained as part of its "zero tolerance" policy.

A federal judge in San Diego who oversees the litigation spawned by the U.S. crackdown on illegal immigration at the Mexican border on Thursday ordered the government to start implementing a settlement with lawyers for the immigrants and conduct so-called credible fear interviews with detainees who seek asylum.

The Justice Department had argued it shouldn’t be required to start implementing the settlement, which won preliminary approved by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw on Oct. 9, until the judge had given it a final sign-off.

There are about 60 immigrants in detention who’ve indicated they want to apply for asylum, according to their lawyers.

To contact the reporter on this story: Edvard Pettersson in Los Angeles at epettersson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Wollman at ewollman@bloomberg.net, Peter Blumberg

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