Asylum changes will make local impact

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the elimination of asylum protection for domestic violence and gang warfare victims.

“Asylum was never meant to elevate all problems – even serious problems that people face every day all over the world,” said Sessions. He

says that he thinks this decision is the right interpretation of the law.

Cecelia Monterossa of Monterossa Law Group in South Bend deals with asylum cases on a regular basis.

She explained that victims of domestic abuse or gang violence no longer fall under one of the five protective grounds, membership of a

particular social group, like they once did.

Monterossa has helped a number of women dealing with this issue in South Bend. “Many women have come out and said, “I was a victim of

domestic violence. I had to either flee my country. My spouse or whoever uhm father of my child was going to kill me if I didn’t leave”,” she

said

Sam Centellas is the Executive Director of, La Casa De Amistad, a non-for-profit community center for Hispanic youth in South Bend.

He says that the impact will hit locally, “You’ll see less people that are going to be in our community and be protected.”