Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Intervene in Support of Its Asylum Ban

Last Friday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked President Trump’s ban on allowing migrants who cross into the country through the southern border at unauthorized locations to apply for asylum. Trump has railed against the federal court, who have blocked many of his controversial executive orders. Now, the Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in, BuzzFeed reports.

Justice Elena Kagan has asked the court to reply to the Justice Department’s request by December 17.

In November, Trump issued an executive order in concert with new regulations from the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security, putting the new rule on asylum seekers in place. In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, the ACLU sued to stop enforcement of the rule, and U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar issued a temporary restraining order on the ban.

“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 wrote in his decision.

Trump lashed out at the court, calling Tigar an “Obama judge.” This led generally loyal conservative Chief Justice John Roberts to condemn the president’s statement.

Ninth Circuit Judge and George W. Bush appointee Jay Bybee upheld Tigar’s restraining order, writing in his decision that “that the Rule is likely inconsistent with existing United States law.”

Solicitor General Noel Francisco has now filed a request at the Supreme Court for a stay to be issued on Tigar’s ruling so the policy can be enforced.

From BuzzFeed:

Francisco wrote that there is a “reasonable probability” that the Supreme Court would take the case if the 9th Circuit ultimately upholds the injunction on appeal.

“The nationwide injunction prohibits the Executive Branch from implementing an interim final rule adopted to address an ongoing crisis at the southern border, with significant implications for ongoing diplomatic negotiations and foreign relations,” he argued.

The ACLU will continue to oppose the rule’s implementation.

“The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to short-circuit the normal judicial process and reinstate a blatantly unlawful policy,” the ACLU’s Lee Gelernt said in a statement. “We will vigorously oppose this latest stay request, as we did in the Ninth Circuit.”