Washington, D.C. — Legal service providers, Hines Immigration Law, PLLC, and The Advocates for Human Rights, filed a lawsuit and a motion for immediate relief today in federal court, challenging a new Trump-Vance administration policy targeting Somali immigrants by fast-tracking them for removal from the United States, drastically limiting their ability to secure legal representation and fairly present their claims. Plaintiffs are represented by Democracy Forward.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenges a policy that the plaintiffs refer to as a “Somali Fast-Track Policy,” which accelerates immigration proceedings for Somali nationals on a separate, nationalized docket before a small group of immigration judges.
Under this policy, hearings are being scheduled on extremely short timelines, making it nearly impossible for attorneys to prepare cases, gather evidence, or adequately represent their clients. The new policy, which follows a number of recent hateful and disparaging comments about Somalia, significantly compresses the timeline to prepare for each client’s individual hearings. The complaint alleges that this unprecedented approach singles out Somali immigrants and undermines fundamental legal protections, including the right to counsel and a fair hearing.
“Ninety-seven percent of my Somali clients’ cases have been rapidly advanced on impossible and unprecedented timelines in this scheduling blitz over recent weeks. Not a single non-Somali case has received this treatment. This is not random. This is not about efficiency or docket management. This is an undeniably targeted policy that singles out one nationality, designed to rob them of the due process they are legally guaranteed and to strip their legal teams of the ability to adequately and ethically prepare their cases for hearing. Every colleague with whom I have spoken has reported the same: virtually all of their Somali cases have been fast-tracked onto artificially compressed timelines with out-of-state judges, while their non-Somali cases proceed normally. This policy is harming not only my clients – it is dismantling the very infrastructure of legal representation for an entire community,” said Kelsey Hines, Hines Immigration Law, PLLC.
“The federal government’s Somali Fast-Track Policy manipulates the immigration court to deny a single nationality the right to seek asylum—that’s wrong,” said Michele Garnett McKenzie, Executive Director of The Advocates for Human Rights. “Federal and international law protect the right to seek asylum, but this tactic denies Somali asylum seekers a fair day in court, strips them of meaningful access to counsel, and makes seeking protection all but impossible.”
“The president’s targeting of people from Somalia has gone beyond hateful rhetoric – now by singling out Somali immigrants and forcing their cases onto an accelerated timeline that prevents them from being able to access counsel and have a fair hearing, the Trump-Vance administration is, once again, unlawfully trampling on people’s rights. That not only undermines the basic promise of fairness in our legal system, but puts lives at risk. This is the latest harmful step by this administration to unlawfully target communities in America, and we are honored to represent the brave plaintiffs swiftly challenging it,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward.
The complaint details how immigration proceedings typically allow months, or even years, for preparation, recognizing the high stakes involved in asylum cases. By contrast, the new policy compresses that timeline into mere weeks in some cases, forcing attorneys to choose between inadequate representation and withdrawing from cases altogether.
Plaintiffs are asking the court to immediately stay the policy, restore standard procedures, and ensure that Somali immigrants are subject to the fair process guaranteed under federal law.
The case is Hines Immigration Law PLLC v. Executive Office for Immigration Review, et al. The legal team at Democracy Forward includes Jyoti Jasrasaria, Michael Torcello, Yenisey Rodriguez, and Robin Thurston.
