US immigration judge grants asylum to Singapore teen blogger
CHICAGO — A teenage blogger from Singapore whose online posts blasting his government landed in him jail was granted asylum to remain in the United States, an immigration judge in Chicago ruled Friday.
Amos Yee has been detained by federal immigration authorities since December when he was taken into custody at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Attorneys said the 18-year-old could be released from a Wisconsin detention centre as early as Monday.
Judge Samuel Cole issued a 13-page decision more than two weeks after 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,” Cole wrote.