Everyone has the right to seek safety. The law says that people who come to the United States fleeing violence or persecution have the right to ask for asylum and get a fair hearing. But when immigration authorities bend the rules and block people from accessing the legal process, they violate not only the law, they violate basic human rights.

N-E-M-B- is a man from Ecuador who was kidnapped and threatened with death by Los Choneros, a violent and powerful criminal group. Fearing for his life, he fled to the United States to seek asylum, a protection guaranteed under U.S. law. He was released from immigration custody in August 2023 and told to follow the legal process, which he did.

But on June 10, 2025, something went terribly wrong. N-E-M-B- showed up for his immigration court hearing in Portland, Oregon,  just like he was supposed to. Instead of being allowed to move forward with his asylum case, the court dismissed it without giving him a chance to explain his fear or share his story. Before he left the courthouse, immigration agents arrested him.

There was no new evidence that was the basis of the arrest. No hearing about why he should be detained. No judge’s order. Just an arrest and an attempt to quickly remove him from Oregon before his lawyers could act. 

N-E-M-B- followed the rules. He showed up to court. The government responded by cutting off his access to the process, locking him up, and trying to silence him.

Now, his attorneys are fighting back in federal court. They’ve filed a petition asking a judge to release him from custody and to stop the government from deporting him through an expedited process.