Chinese-American judge who denied Trump policy known for her immigration rulings
Judge Dolly Gee, who says her upbringing was shaped as the daughter of immigrants, rejects government requests to lock children up with their parents
The Trump administration’s attempt to detain migrant families together indefinitely ran into a formidable obstacle in a US federal judge whose upbringing was shaped as the daughter of immigrants and who previously rejected requests to allow the government to lock up children with their parents.
Judge Dolly Gee, the first Chinese-American woman appointed to the US District Court, has joked that her mother was her first pro bono client because she had to translate for her at medical appointments and help her apply for jobs when she was just a girl.
“She in many ways inspired my desire to go to law school,” Gee said in a video produced by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. “I saw first-hand the difficulties she encountered as a non-English speaker and also as a garment worker. And I saw many of the abuses that take place in the workplace, and I decided at a fairly early age that I wanted to do some type of work that would address some of the inequities I saw as a child.”
On Monday, Gee rejected the Trump administration’s efforts to detain immigrant families in long-term facilities, calling it a “cynical attempt” to undo a long-standing court settlement.
The US Justice Department said it disagreed with the ruling and was reviewing it further.
Gee, 59, had worked for years as a labour lawyer and arbitrator before applying for a judgeship in what she regarded as a chance to diversify the court.
President Bill Clinton nominated her in 1999, but the Republican-controlled Senate dragged its feet, and Gee never received a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. President Barack Obama nominated her a decade later, and she was confirmed and took her seat in Los Angeles in 2010.
