A temporary restraining order was issued Monday which blocks the Trump administration from denying asylum claims to immigrants who cross the U.S. southern border illegally, CNN reported.
The order was issued by U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco, taking effect immediately, and is to stay in place until at least December 19 of this year.
“Whatever the scope of the President’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden,” the judge wrote in his ruling. “Failure to comply with entry requirements such as arriving at a designated port of entry should bear little, if any, weight in the asylum process.”
Under the administration’s most recent rule, illegal immigrants in the U.S. are denied asylum claims, which advocates claim is an illegal practice. They argue that it is illegal to block someone from seeking asylum based on how they entered the country, as well as that the administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act by not providing public notice or comment on the rule.
At the beginning of this month, President Donald Trump claimed the caravan moving north from Honduras toward the United States was comprised of “some very bad thugs and gang members” as well as “criminals and unknown Middle Easterners” and tried, as a result, to restrict asylum rules in a proclamation on November 9, citing national security concerns.
Trump also claimed illegal border crossings put additional stress on the immigration and asylum systems that stall applications. His comments were backed by senior administration officials who claimed the asylum system was backlogged with roughly 800,000 cases and was thus in a “very large crisis.”
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