Washington D.C., Apr 18, 2017 / 05:37 am
A group of women and children from Central America who have been prioritized for deportation lost a legal battle Monday, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear their appeal of a lower court's ruling that prevented a federal judge from reviewing their expedited deportation orders.
The families were detained in Texas soon after illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. They claimed asylum, but immigration judges ruled they lacked "credible fear" of persecution. They were placed in expedited removal proceedings and detained at a residential center in Pennsylvania, Reuters reports.
Expedited removal applies to non-citizens without valid documents for entry to the U.S.
The legal challenge claimed violation of the women and children's right to due process under the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court let stand a ruling from the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.