Obama-Appointed Judge Again Blocks Trump Admin's New Rules for Asylum Seekers
Human traffickers received a gift from an Obama-appointed federal judge, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Monday after the Trump administration was handed a setback in its efforts to reduce the numbers of illegal migrants currently overwhelming the system for granting asylum.
U.S. District Court Judge Jon Tigar, who is based in California, had issued an injunction in July that blocked implementation of a rule proposed by the administration requiring migrants to seek asylum in a country they passed through on their way to the U.S. before seeking it here — a rule that would have the effect of making most migrants who come through another country ineligible for asylum, The Hill reported.
When the administration appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, it won a partial victory, with the extent of the order limited to states within the Ninth District, which includes California and Arizona. But the appellate court also kicked the question back to Tigar, the Washington Examiner reported.
Tigar then ruled on Monday that he was right in the first place, and said that the pro-migrant organizations challenging the asylum rule would be harmed unless the injunction applies nationwide because they had activities outside of the states covered by the Ninth District.
Grisham issued a statement flaying the ruling.
“Immigration and border security policy cannot be run by any single district court judge who decides to issue a nationwide injunction. The ruling is a gift to human smugglers and traffickers and undermines the rule of law,” Grisham said in the statement.
“We previously asked the Supreme Court to set aside the district court’s injunction in its entirety, our request remains pending with the Court, and we look forward to it acting on our request.”
The Supreme Court ruling is due soon, Fox News reported.
Attorney Lee Gelernt of the American Civil Liberties Union portrayed the policy as a threat to the lives of migrants, according to The New York Times.
“It’s too dangerous for people to wait around in those countries,” he said. “For many people, this would have effectively been like a death sentence.”
The policy, he said, was “just another in a series of attempts by the administration to effectively end asylums for Central Americans at the southern border.”
Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco said the policy addresses “an unprecedented surge in the number of aliens who enter the country unlawfully across the southern border and, if apprehended, claim asylum and remain in the country while their claims are adjudicated.”
Francisco said the policy Tigar has blocked “alleviates a crushing burden on the U.S. asylum system by prioritizing asylum seekers who most need asylum in the United States.”
Tigar’s latest ruling “frustrates the government’s strong interest in a well-functioning asylum system,” he said.
Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan called Tigar’s action “unprecedented judicial activism.”
“Every time this administration comes up with what we believe is a legal rule or policy that we believe will address this crisis, we just end up getting enjoined. It’s frustrating, but we’ll just have to keep going,” he said.
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