Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 25 July 2019

Judge blocks Trump asylum restrictions at US-Mexico border

By AMY TAXIN and ASHRAF fect and could permanent-
KHALIL ly block the new asylum
Associated Press policy. The judge said the
A federal judge on new policy could expose
Wednesday blocked the migrants to violence and
Trump administration from abuse, deny their rights un-
enforcing new asylum re- der international law and
strictions for immigrants at return them to countries
the U.S.-Mexico border, they were fleeing.
marking the latest defeat He acknowledged that
for a president waging an the country’s immigration
all-out battle in the courts system is overwhelmed by
to stop the flow of migrants the surge in migrants from
into the country. Central America over the
The ruling by U.S. District last year.
Judge Jon Tigar in San “But shortcutting the law, or
Francisco came hours after weakening the boundary
a judge in Washington de- between Congress and the
cided to let the rules stand. Executive, are not the so-
The California ruling halts lutions to these problems,”
the policy across the bor- Tigar said.
der as lawsuits play out in The Justice and Homeland
court. Security Departments did
The new asylum rules would In this July 17, 2019, file photo, a United States Customs and Border Protection Officer checks the not immediately respond
prevent most migrants at documents of migrants before being taken to apply for asylum in the United States, on International to requests for comment.
the southern border from Bridge 1 in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. President Donald Trump
seeking asylum in the U.S. Associated Press told reporters before his
if they passed through an- It also would affect asylum ports on whether U.S. im- numbers of people that departure for a fundraiser
other country first. Most of seekers from Africa, Asia migration agencies were border agents are detain- in West Virginia that the
the immigrants crossing and South America who ar- actually enforcing it. ing. Washington decision was
the border are from Cen- rive regularly at the south- Top U.S. officials say their Tigar, who was appointed a “tremendous ruling.” He
tral America, making most ern border. plan would discourage mi- by former President Barack added: “We appreciate it.
of them ineligible for asy- The restrictions went into grants from leaving their Obama, has already We respect the courts very
lum because they passed effect last week, though countries, which they say barred less restrictive asy- much. That helps us very
through Mexico. there were conflicting re- is necessary to reduce the lum policies from taking ef- much at the border.” q
Madoff seeks sentence reduction for epic Ponzi scheme

NEW YORK (AP) — Epic has final say on clemency, put into Madoff’s business.
Ponzi schemer Bernard to commute his term he’s At the time of his arrest,
Madoff is seeking an early serving at a North Carolina fake account statements
release from prison after a prison. Ira Sorkin, the lawyer were telling clients they had
decade behind bars. who represented Madoff in holdings worth $60 billion.
The Department of Justice his criminal case, declined The justice department’s
confirmed Wednesday that comment on Wednesday. website signals commuta-
Madoff has a pending re- Madoff pleaded guilty to tion of a sentence is a long-
quest to get a reduction of orchestrating the largest shot, calling it “an extraor-
the 150-year sentence that Ponzi scheme in history. dinary remedy.” Grounds
a federal judge in Manhat- He admitted swindling for granting it “have tradi-
tan imposed in 2009 with thousands of clients out of tionally included disparity
the public furor over his billions of dollars in invest- or undue severity of sen-
multibillion-dollar fraud at its ments over decades. tence, critical illness or old
height. It was unclear when A court-appointed trustee age, and meritorious ser-
the 81-year-old Madoff In this March 10, 2009 file photo, Bernard Madoff, center, exits has recovered more than vice rendered to the gov-
filed papers asking Presi- Manhattan federal court in New York. $13 billion of an estimated ernment by the petitioner,”
dent Donald Trump, who Associated Press $17.5 billion that investors it says.q