A federal judge on Tuesday blocked a Biden administration rule that allowed border personnel to reject illegal immigrants’ claims of asylum if they did not go through the proper application avenues.
California U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar suspended a rule that allowed Border Patrol to deny asylum claims made by migrants who had not first applied online or applied for asylum in a country they passed through on their way to the U.S. Tigar suspended enforcement of his ruling for 14 days to allow the Biden administration to appeal.
“The Court concludes that the Rule is contrary to law because it presumes ineligible for asylum noncitizens who enter between ports of entry, using a manner of entry that Congress expressly intended should not affect access to asylum,” Tigar wrote in his order. “The Rule is also contrary to law because it presumes ineligible for asylum noncitizens who fail to apply for protection in a transit country, despite Congress’s clear intent that such a factor should only limit access to asylum where the transit country actually presents a safe option.”
The asylum policy had proven successful in driving down border crossings, especially after the Trump Covid-era public-health order known as Title 42 expired following a long litigation battle. Title 42 allowed for the expulsion of migrants as a means to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.
In May, the White House unveiled sweeping rules to curb the anticipated influx of illegal migrants following Title 42’s end. Under the rules, migrants who did not first seek asylum in a transit country or apply for protection in America using an online form before arriving at the border would be refused entry. Moreover, Venezuelan, Haitian, Cuban, and Nicaraguan nationals caught illegally crossing the border would be deported back to Mexico. The White House also disclosed plans to open at least 100 regional processing centers while granting 30,000 humanitarian exceptions to the new asylum rules per month.
“Our plan will deliver results, but it will take time for those results to be fully realized,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said at the time. “We are clear-eyed about the challenges we are likely to face in the days and weeks ahead, which have the potential to be very difficult.”
Progressive activists and academics condemned the Biden restrictions as inhumane and cheered the judge’s order striking them down Tuesday. The ACLU called the ruling a “victory,” but said “each day the Biden administration prolongs the fight over its illegal ban, many people fleeing persecution and seeking safe harbor for their families are instead left in grave danger.”
The Justice Department has defended the policy against progressive critics by arguing that it includes many exemptions and other legal pathways for migrants to come into the U.S.
In early May, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens tweeted that federal agents had apprehended over 22,000 individuals and confiscated more than 800 pounds of methamphetamine in only three days.