Justice Department to Appeal Order Blocking Asylum Proclamation
By Heather Ham-Warren | November 29, 2018
Undoubtedly, the years of failure to enforce federal immigration laws has led to an illegal immigration crisis in the United States. This crisis has only been further exacerbated by abuse of legal immigration loopholes, such as the rampant fraud in asylum claims.
Earlier this month, President Trump signed a presidential proclamation to make important alterations to the asylum process by attempting to reduce the flood of migrants who enter the United States illegally. Under the proclamation, the administration vowed that individuals who attempt to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally would no longer be eligible to claim asylum. Essentially, migrants would be required to claim asylum at a valid point of entry—not after apprehension. A senior administration official said the White House hopes that by directing asylum claimants to ports of entry, officials will be able to adjudicate the claims more quickly and efficiently. In issuing the proclamation, the president utilized the same powers previously used to implement the travel ban, which was ultimately upheld by the United States Supreme Court.
However, days after the proclamation was issued, Judge Jon S. Tigar, a federal judge in San Francisco, Calif., barred the administration from refusing asylum to immigrants that have been apprehended after crossing the border illegally. Following the judge’s decision, the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice issued a joint statement saying, “It is absurd that a set of advocacy groups can be found to have standing to sue to stop the entire federal government from acting so that illegal aliens can receive a government benefit to which they are not entitled.”
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice informed Judge Tigar that the government will seek to appeal his order to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and asked him to put his ruling on hold while the appeal is filed. Tigar has indicated that he will rule on the government’s request by the end of the day Friday.
FAIR President Dan Stein released the following statement after the judge’s initial decision:
“Yet another unelected activist judge stopped the president from using the authority granted to him by Congress to protect the integrity of our immigration system and our national sovereignty. As the Supreme Court recently affirmed in Trump v. Hawaii, Congress has given the president broad authority to limit or even stop the entry of aliens. When President Trump took action to ensure that asylum is not a free pass to cross our borders illegally, he was on firm legal footing. However, that doesn’t seem to matter anymore, as a single district judge can now violate decades of Supreme Court precedent on executive power and sovereignty to advance the agenda of open borders groups. We urge the administration to seek immediate review of this ruling.”
Stay tuned to FAIR as the case works its way through the courts.