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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 11 september 2019

Judge reinstates nationwide halt on Trump asylum policy plan

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A reporters as he departed
U.S. judge in California on the White House for a trip
Monday reinstated a na- to North Carolina. “I don’t
tionwide halt on the Trump think it should be allowed.”
administration’s plan to White House Press Secre-
prevent most migrants from tary Stephanie Grisham
seeking asylum at the U.S.- said in a statement that a
Mexico border. sole judge shouldn’t have
U.S. District Judge Jon Ti- the ability to exert such a
gar ruled in Oakland that broad impact on immigra-
an injunction blocking the tion policy, and noted the
administration’s policy from administration’s request to
taking effect should apply the Supreme Court to set
nationwide. aside the injunction is still
Tigar blocked the policy pending.
in July after a lawsuit by “This ruling is a gift to hu-
groups that help asylum man smugglers and traf-
seekers. But the 9th U.S. Cir- fickers and undermines the
cuit Court of Appeals lim- rule of law,” she said.
ited the impact of Tigar’s The courts have halted
injunction to states within some of Trump’s key pol-
the area overseen by the icy shifts on immigration,
appeals court. including an earlier ver-
That meant the policy sion of an asylum ban. The
was blocked in the border president has prevailed on
states of California and Ari- several fronts after initial le-
zona but not in New Mexi- gal setbacks, for example,
co and Texas. when the Supreme Court
In his ruling, Tigar stressed a recently lifted a freeze on
“need to maintain uniform using Pentagon money to
immigration policy” and build border walls.
found that nonprofit orga- The rules issued by the
nizations such as Al Otro Trump administration in
Lado don’t know where July apply to most migrants
asylum seekers who enter who pass through another In this July 17, 2019, file photo, a United States Customs and Border Protection Officer checks the
the U.S. will end up living country before reaching documents of migrants before being taken to apply for asylum in the United States, on International
and making their case to the United States. Bridge 1 in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.
remain in the country.”The They target tens of thou- Associated Press
court recognized there is sands of Central Ameri- was an attempt to close through a country con- based on race, religion, na-
grave danger facing asy- cans fleeing violence and the gap between an initial sidered to be “safe,” but tionality or membership in a
lum-seekers along the en- poverty who cross Mexico asylum screening that most the law is vague on how particular social group.
tire stretch of the southern each month to seek asylum people pass and a final de- a country is determined to The Border Patrol appre-
border,” Lee Gelernt, an and would affect asylum cision on asylum that most be safe. It says pursuant to hended about 50,000 peo-
attorney for the American seekers from Africa, Asia people do not win. a bilateral or multilateral ple at the southern border
Civil Liberties Union, said in and South America who ar- U.S. law allows refugees to agreement. in August, a 30 percent
a statement. rive regularly at the south- request asylum when they People are generally eli- drop in arrests from July
Trump said he disagreed ern border. get to the U.S. regardless gible for asylum in the U.S. amid summer heat and an
with the judge’s ruling. The shift reversed decades of how they arrive or cross. if they fear return to their aggressive crackdown on
“I think it’s very unfair that of U.S. policy in what Trump The crucial exception is home country because both sides of the border to
he does that,” Trump told administration officials said for those who have come they would be persecuted deter migrants.q