The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed an immigration judge’s decision to grant asylum to a Chinese national who exposed the Chinese government’s human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims in that nation.
Guan Heng, 38, applied for asylum after arriving in the U.S. illegally in 2021. He has been in custody since being swept up in an immigration enforcement operation in August as part of a mass deportation campaign by the Trump administration. The Department of Homeland Security initially sought to deport Guan to Uganda but dropped the plan in December after his plight raised public concerns and attracted attention on Capitol Hill.
SEE: Chinese national who exposed human rights abuses against Uyghurs is granted asylum to remain in U.S.
“We welcome the judge’s decision to potentially save Guan Heng’s life by granting him asylum from the Chinese government,” said CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison. “Dissidents and those who expose the crimes of authoritarian regimes deserve our government’s protection.”
He noted that CAIR previously welcomed the dropping of a deportation order for Heng.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com