Obama-Appointed Federal Judge Rejects Trump Administration's New Asylum Policy
President Donald Trump’s effort to cap the flow of migrants claiming asylum in the United States was dealt a setback Friday when a federal judge ruled against an administration policy that only allowed migrants entering legal ports of entry to claim asylum.
District Judge Randolph Moss of Washington, D.C., an appointee of former President Barack Obama, said the new policy was “inconsistent with” the Immigration and Nationality Act, The Hill reported.
“[A]liens have a statutory right to seek asylum regardless of whether they enter the United States at a designated port of entry, and defendants may not extinguish that statutory right by regulation or proclamation,” Moss wrote, according to CNN.
Moss said that according to law, “any alien who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in the United States (whether or not at a designated port of arrival…), irrespective of such alien’s status, may apply for asylum.”
The Trump administration has sought to impose various rules and policies to limit the flow of migrants. To date, courts have blocked many of the president’s proposals, which are being appealed by the Trump administration.
The defeat was celebrated by some.
“This decision is significant not only for the bona fide refugees who would have otherwise been denied the right to seek asylum under the illegal rule, but it gives us hope that future attacks on asylum-seekers will meet the same fate,” Keren Zwick of the National Immigrant Justice Center said in a statement to Reuters.
However, the administration continues to devise new ways to address the crisis that has overwhelmed the southern border.
On Monday, Attorney General William Barr issued a ruling that limits the ability of migrants to use alleged threats against family members as grounds for asylum in the U.S., The Washington Post reported.
The administration is also working to push its policy of having those who want to claim asylum undergo the process in Mexico instead of crossing into America first.
Trump’s supporters argue the administration is forced to address the crisis through executive actions because Congress has failed to approve immigration reforms that could solve the problem.
“If we can pass laws to fix this, that’d be the best thing, but Trump is trying to do it without the help of Democrats or the courts,” Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, told The Post. “The word is out that the system is easy to exploit, and that’s why the numbers have exploded.”
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has proposed legislation to reform immigration by filling the holes in the rules governing asylum.
I’ll no longer allow our asylum laws to be exploited by human traffickers, smugglers & cartels. My bill fixes this problem. Someone has to lead on the issue to repair broken laws. To do nothing is to maintain the horrific situation we find ourselves in today. That’s unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/cJtFdx3dp2
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) August 2, 2019
Trump himself took to Twitter on Tuesday to blame Democrats for the lack of solutions.
Despite the Democrats wanting very unsafe Open Borders & refusing to change the Loopholes & Asylum, tremendous progress is being made the the Southern Border. We all waited because we assumed the Dems would ultimately be forced to change the horrible Immigration Laws.They didn’t!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2019
“Despite the Democrats wanting very unsafe Open Borders & refusing to change the Loopholes & Asylum, tremendous progress is being made the the Southern Border,” Trump tweeted this week. “We all waited because we assumed the Dems would ultimately be forced to change the horrible Immigration Laws.They didn’t!”
To address the flow of migrants, the administration has stationed troops at the border. The Department of Homeland Security is planning to keep them there at least through September 2020, NBC News reported.
Pentagon spokesman Major Chris Mitchell said Defense Secretary Mark Esper has received a request from the Department of Homeland Security and that Congress was notified Thursday night.
No number was revealed regarding how many troops would be expected to be stationed at the border through next fall.
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