He sought asylum, saying he would face a credible fear of persecution if he were returned to Sri Lanka. Mr. Thuraissigiam, a farmer, told an asylum officer that he had been savagely beaten in Sri Lanka by men who had blindfolded and abducted him. Though their communication was imperfect, an asylum officer believed Mr. Thuraissigiam. But the officer rejected his request because Mr. Thuraissigiam could not identify the assailants or definitively establish their motives. But a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, ruled the law unconstitutional, saying that it violated the Constitution’s suspension clause.

Source: New York Times June 25, 2020 14:17 UTC