Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
Immigrant arrested outside asylum hearing
Although federal courts have limited some of Trump's policies, 'immigration arrests are up sharply' and 'border crossings are down dramatically'
Peter Weber, The Week US's avatar
By Peter Weber, The Week US
What happened
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., Wednesday ruled that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority and violated federal law by shutting down the U.S.-Mexico border to asylum seekers in a January proclamation.
Who said what
Presidents face "enormous challenges in preventing and deterring unlawful entry" into the U.S. and in working through the "overwhelming backlog of asylum claims," U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss wrote in his 128-page opinion. But neither the Constitution nor immigration law gives the executive branch an "extra-statutory, extra-regulatory" power to "adopt an alternative immigration system" that denies migrants the right to seek asylum from persecution.
The ruling in the class action lawsuit applies to most asylum-seekers in the U.S., throwing up another "legal roadblock" for Trump's "aggressive" immigration crackdown, The Washington Post said. But while federal courts have "limited" some of his policies, "immigration arrests are up sharply, border crossings are down dramatically" and Trump's "sprawling tax bill" in Congress "would turbocharge funding for immigration enforcement." Trump's multiple attempts to restrict asylum in his first term were also blocked by federal courts.
https://theweek.com/politics/trump-us-mexico-border-immigrants-asylum-ban-ruling
