Judge Smacks Down Trump's Asylum Ban

By Nick Martin | November 20, 2018 | 4:29pm

Immigration

A federal judge ruled on Monday night against President Donald Trump’s asylum ban, barring enforcement of the administration rule to turn away asylum seekers at the Southern border under the guise of national security.

Earlier this month, Trump’s White House rolled out measures to make migrants who cross the border between official ports of entry ineligible for asylum in response to migrant caravans, mostly from Honduras, making their way toward the U.S. border.

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In his ruling late Monday night, Judge Jon S. Tigar of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco wrote: “Whatever the scope of the President’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden.”

Tigar found that the White House’s attempt to bypass Congress in an attempt to shut down American borders to those that need entry the most would not hold up under further legal scrutiny. Tigar also made the common-sense observation that requiring all asylum seekers to funnel through a handful of checkpoints would only lead to more violent incidents around the border.

“Asylum seekers will be put at increased risk of violence and other harms at the border, and many will be deprived of meritorious asylum claims,” Tigar wrote. “The government offers nothing in support of the new rule that outweighs the need to avoid these harms.”

The lawsuit against the Trump administration was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and groups advocating for East Bay Sanctuary Covenant. Tigar’s ruling will now remain in effect until Dec. 19, at which time the court will consider arguments to make a permanent decision on the matter.