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Judge Stops Order Barring Asylum Access07/03 06:10
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge said Wednesday that an order by President
Donald Trump suspending asylum access at the southern border was unlawful,
throwing into doubt one of the key pillars of the president's plan to crack
down on migration at the southern border. But he put the ruling on hold for two
weeks to give the government time to appeal.
In an order Jan. 20, Trump declared that the situation at the southern
border constitutes an invasion of America and that he was "suspending the
physical entry" of migrants and their ability to seek asylum until he decides
it is over.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington said his order blocking
Trump's policy will take effect July 16, giving the Trump administration time
to appeal.
Moss wrote that neither the Constitution nor immigration law gives the
president "an extra-statutory, extra-regulatory regime for repatriating or
removing individuals from the United States, without an opportunity to apply
for asylum" or other humanitarian protections.
The Homeland Security Department did not immediately respond to a request
but an appeal is likely. The president and his aides have repeatedly attacked
court rulings that undermine his policies as judicial overreach.
Moss, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, acknowledged that the
government faces "enormous challenges" at the southern border and an
"overwhelming backlog" of asylum claims. But he returned several times in his
128-page ruling to his opinion that the president is not entitled to prohibit
asylum.
Lee Gelernt, who argued the case for the American Civil Liberties Union,
called the ruling a significant win.
"The decision means there will be protection for those fleeing horrific
danger and that the president cannot ignore laws passed by Congress simply by
claiming that asylum seekers are engaged in an invasion," he said.
The ruling comes after illegal border crossings have plummeted. The White
House said Wednesday that the Border Patrol made 6,070 arrests in June, down
30% from May to set a pace for the lowest annual clip since 1966. On June 28,
the Border Patrol made only 137 arrests, a sharp contrast to late 2023, when
arrests topped 10,000 on the busiest days.
Arrests dropped sharply when Mexican officials increased enforcement within
their own borders in December 2023 and again when then-President Joe Biden
introduced severe asylum restrictions in June 2024. They plunged more after
Trump became president in January, deploying thousands of troops to the border
under declaration of a national emergency.
Trump and his allies say the asylum system has been abused. They argue that
it draws people who know it will take years to adjudicate their claims in the
country's backlogged immigration courts during which they can work and live in
America.
But supporters argue that the right to seek asylum is guaranteed in U.S. law
and international commitments -- even for those who cross the border illegally.
They say that asylum is a vital protection for people fleeing persecution -- a
protection guaranteed by Congress that even the president doesn't have the
authority to ignore.
People seeking asylum must demonstrate a fear of persecution on a fairly
narrow grounds of race, religion, nationality, or by belonging to a particular
social or political group.
In the executive order, Trump argued that the Immigration and Nationality
Act gives presidents the authority to suspend entry of any group that they find
"detrimental to the interests of the United States."
Groups that work with immigrants -- the Arizona-based Florence Project, the
El Paso, Texas-based Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and the Texas-based
RAICES -- filed the lawsuit against the government, arguing that the president
was wrong to equate migrants coming to the southern border with an invasion.
And they argued that Trump's proclamation amounted to the president
unilaterally overriding "... the immigration laws Congress enacted for the
protection of people who face persecution or torture if removed from the United
States."
But the government argued that because both foreign policy and immigration
enforcement fall under the executive branch of government, it was entirely
under the president's authority to declare an invasion.
"The determination that the United States is facing an invasion is an
unreviewable political question," the government wrote in one argument.
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