HUMAN RIGHTS/OBAMA/TRAVEL BAN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP EXEC ORDERS: “The Trump administration did not attend a regional human rights hearing that examined how U.S. policies are hurting asylum claims or triggering other alleged immigration abuses.
For decades, U.S. administrations have enthusiastically supported the Inter-American Human Rights Commission as it defended rights throughout the hemisphere, especially in repressive countries like Cuba and Venezuela.
But no U.S. official attended Tuesday’s [3-21-17] hearing, which examined Trump’s executive actions to restrict the admission of refugees and restrict travel from six mostly-Muslim nations.
The commission also heard cases from the Obama administration involving U.S. Border Patrol agents accused of turning back migrants seeking to cross the border to apply for asylum.
Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, said State officials decided not to attend on the advice of government lawyers who said any testimony by them could harm pending litigation.”
-Tracy Wilkinson, “U.S. skips regional human rights panel examining reports of abuse by U.S. officials,” The Los Angeles Times online, March 21, 2017