Today, The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit to halt the new regulation put forth by DOJ and DHS. The ACLU, representing four pro-immigration advocacy organizations, argued that President Trump's proposed rule violates federal immigration and regulatory laws. ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt in a public statement said:
This is the Trump Administration's most extreme run at an asylum ban yet. It clearly violates domestic and international law, and cannot stand. [The new rule] is a part of an unlawful effort to significantly undermine, if not virtually repeal, the U.S. asylum system.
The lawsuit was filed in the Northern District Court of California. The civil rights group contends the rule violates federal asylum law, which makes protections available to immigrants whether or not they arrive at a port of entry. In addition, they assert the administration ran afoul of regulatory guidelines when it issued the sweeping change immediately and without a thorough public process. A federal judge in November temporarily halted a similar Trump policy that blocked migrants who cross between ports of entry from seeking asylum.
The new asylum rule was announced yesterday through a joint statement from the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. The regulation would make it more difficult for migrants traveling through Central America to take advantage of the present loopholes in the U.S. immigration system to seek and obtain asylum after illegally crossing the southern border. Under the new asylum rule, migrants who enter the United States at the southern border would be ineligible for asylum unless they can prove that they sought protection in one of the countries they traveled through on their way to the United States, such as Mexico, El Salvador, or Guatemala. If this requirement is not met, the migrant can be turned away at the border. This new rule is a strong, and necessary first step towards stemming the flow of migrants from Central America into the U.S. and was to take effect today.
As of right now, there is no timeline available as to when this case will be heard, or a decision will be made.
For more information on the asylum rule, please read this article posted by NumbersUSA on July 15th.
