US immigration judge grants asylum to vocal Singapore teen blogger
>> CHICAGO: A blogger from Singapore who was jailed for his online posts blasting his government was granted asylum to remain in the United States, an immigration judge ruled.
Amos Yee, 18, has been detained by federal immigration authorities since December when he was taken into custody at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Lawyers said he could be released from a Wisconsin detention centre as early as tomorrow.
Judge Samuel Cole issued a 13-page decision on Friday, more than two weeks after Mr Yee’s closed-door hearing on the asylum application.
“Yee has met his burden of showing that he suffered past persecution on account of his political opinion and has a well-founded fear of future persecution in Singapore,” Mr Cole wrote.
Mr Yee left Singapore with the intention of seeking asylum in the US after being jailed for several weeks in 2015 and 2016. He was accused of hurting the religious feelings of Muslims and Christians in the multi-ethnic city-state. Mr Yee is an atheist.
Many of his blog and social media posts criticised Singapore’s leaders. He created controversy in 2015 as the city-state was mourning the death of its first prime minister and he posted an expletive-laden video about Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew just after his death.
Such open criticism of political leaders is discouraged in Singapore. The case raised questions about free speech and censorship and has been closely watched abroad.
Mr Cole said testimony during Mr Yee’s hearing showed that while the Singapore government’s stated reason for punishing him involved religion, “its real purpose was to stifle Yee’s political speech”. He said Mr Yee’s prison sentence was “unusually long and harsh” especially for his age.
Officials at Singapore’s embassy in Washington, DC, have not addressed the case and messages left for the government on yesterday morning in Singapore weren’t immediately returned.
Mr Yee said in a phone interview from jail this month that he feared returning to Singapore. But he said he’d continue to speak out and had already planned a line of T-shirts and started writing a book about his experiences.
“I have an infinite amount of ideas of what to do,” he asserted.
Department of Homeland Security attorneys had opposed the asylum bid, saying Mr Yee’s case didn’t qualify as persecution based on political beliefs. It was unclear whether they’d appeal against the decision or whether Mr Yee would have to remain imprisoned if they did.
Officials with the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn’t immediately return messages. A spokeswoman for the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees US immigration courts, declined to comment.