The News Lens, a Hong Kong based publication, reported today that Amos Yee is still being detained at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) centre in Chicago. This despite the ruling of a United States Immigration Judge stating that the 17-year-old was eligible for release.
The U.S. judge determined that Yee’s treatment in Singapore amounted to political persecution. Yee is still being detained because the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has decided to appeal the immigration judge’s ruling said that newspaper.
“Sadly, it appears Amos has become a hostage to the climate of fear generated by Donald Trump’s abusive policies towards refugees and migrants, and the knee-jerk tightening of practices at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in response to the new President’s executive orders,” said Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director of Human Rights Watch.