Immigration

Judge Blocks Trump’s Sweeping Restrictions on Asylum

Written by SK Ashby

Good news -- a federal judge has blocked Trump's sweeping restrictions on asylum that would have made it so virtually no one would be allowed to apply for asylum.

Judge Jon Tigar, whose ruling falls under the jurisdiction of the Ninth District Court of Appeals, blocked Trump's new rules at the request of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

From CBS News:

In his order, Tigar seemed to agree with the concerns raised by the plaintiffs that policy could result in the U.S. government sending asylum seekers back to dangerous circumstances just because they did not seek protection in countries like Mexico. The judge noted Mexico does not have as robust of an asylum system as the U.S. to guarantee people safe haven.

"An injunction would vindicate the public's interest — which our existing immigration laws clearly articulate — in ensuring that we do not deliver aliens into the hands of their persecutors," Tigar wrote in his 45-page order.

Most of the Trump regime's attempts to rewrite the rules for asylum and other related immigration policies have failed because, unlike many other areas of federal law, the laws governing refugee and asylum policy are fairly clear.

There's less ambiguity in asylum law than there is in other areas of the law and it does not provide a great deal of space for the Trump regime to rewrite the rules on a whim.

With that said, we still don't know what will happen when one of Trump's various attempts to rewrite the law lands at the Supreme Court.

It's highly unlikely that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will side with Trump when this reaches their courtroom so these restrictions could hypothetically remain blocked in court until he's out of office. The clock is ticking.