ACLU Court Brief Challenges Extradition of Man Likely to be Tortured if Returned to DR

ACLU Court Brief Challenges Extradition of Man Likely to be Tortured if Returned to DR

The ACLU of Rhode Island and the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project filed a “friend of the court” brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston on Wednesday to support a lower court ruling that bars the extradition of a man whom the U.S. State Department is trying to return to the Dominican Republic (DR).

According to the ACLU, an immigration appeals board has previously found that the man would likely be tortured if to the DR.

“We are hopeful that the courts will continue to serve as a bulwark against the inhumane and unlawful practices emanating from the Trump Administration’s anti-immigrant crusade,” said ACLU of RI executive director Steven Brown.

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Read the Brief Here

The Case

In September, U.S. District Judge John McConnell, Jr. rejected the State Department’s notion that “one arm of the Executive Branch can make a determination and another arm of the Executive Branch can ignore that determination when deciding the exact issue.”

According to the ACLU, the court brief filed on Wednesday responds to the federal government’s appeal of that ruling.

The DR has been seeking to extradite Cristian Aguasvivas, who is being held at the Wyatt Detention Center, for allegedly fatally shooting a police officer.

Aguasvivas claims he is innocent and the victim of rampant police corruption in that country that engages in torture and extrajudicial killings.

According to his habeas corpus petition, after being hunted by DR police, Aguasvivas fled to the United States and sought asylum.

In 2016, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the federal administrative appellate body that applies immigration laws, concluded that it was “more likely than not” that Aguasvivas would be tortured if sent back to the DR.

The BIA relied on testimony from various witnesses who testified they were themselves tortured by the police in an attempt to find him and evidence that Aguasvivas’ brother was later killed by DR police.

The BIA issued an order preventing his deportation, relying on an international human rights treaty to which the United States is a signatory that prohibits the return of any individual to a country where they will face torture.

According to the ACLU, despite the BIA’s order, the U.S. State Department has taken the position that it remains free to extradite Aguasvivas, and that the courts have no jurisdiction to interfere with its plans or to consider whether Aguasvivas will be tortured and killed in the DR.