Sessions: Gang, domestic violence are not grounds for asylum

It has been four years since Maikol Alvarado, his three younger siblings and his mother crossed illegally into the United States, seeking asylum. They were escaping the gang violence in his native Honduras that claimed his father's life.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Monday that, in most cases, domestic violence or gang violence will no longer be considered grounds for asylum.

This comes as 174 female asylum seekers are in the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac, separated from their young children.

The announcement means that Alvarado and his family might not have gotten asylum. His father was killed by gang members because he refused to join their organization. His father's death pushed his mother to act.

"She was devastated, and she said that we had to get out of there," Alvarado said.

Her family scraped together the money to pay a smuggler for the long journey to the U.S. His youngest sister wasn't even 1 year old. Alvarado was just 14.

"You suffer a lot," he said. "There is pain. There is a lot of things that you probably don't want to see."

They arrived at the Texas border two weeks later.

"And that's when a helicopter came in," he said, "and U.S. (Border) Patrol got us."

Soon afterward, he and his younger brother were placed in cells away from his mother.

"So, at this point, I was really scared," Alvarado said. "At this point, I didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't know what was next. My mom constantly cried every night. She told me this when we got out."

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That is the sad circumstance U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal said she found last week when she visited the 174 asylum seekers now being housed at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac.

"They don't know where their children are," Jayapal said. "They have not been told where their children are. It is inhumane. It is cruel. It is un-American."

Gov. Jay Inslee and other elected Democrats delivered that same message at a weekend rally Jayapal helped organize to protest the detention of the asylum-seeking mothers in SeaTac. The protesters placed the blame squarely on the president and his party.

"It's about time some Republicans get on their hind legs and stand up against Donald Trump," Inslee said.

On Monday, Jayapal said her visit to the detention center and the rally were just the start.

"In addition, I am calling for them to be released immediately, for them to have what is called a 'credible fear' hearing, which is given to people who are seeking asylum and to be reunited with their family," she said.

Alvarado said he and his mother were separated for two of the longest days of his young life.

"They called my name and my brother's," he said. "They were like, 'Maikol and Ronald, get up.'"

When he saw his mother, he said, "I had handcuffs and I just left the officer and ran off to my mom, like, fleeing, like, flew into her arms. And she cried when she saw us again."

Washington Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell announced today that they and 28 other senators are introducing a bill that would prevent the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from separating children from their parents.

Alvarado said, if he had been kept from his mother any longer than a couple of days, he would have been lost.

Instead, on Saturday he will graduate from Highline High School.  In the fall, he will attend Western Washington University.  He hopes one day to be an immigration lawyer.

Cox Media Group