A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Joe Bidens controversial asylum policy delivering a major blow to the administration which has leaned on the measure to drive down border crossings. Judge Jon Tigar of the California Northern District Court previously ruled against a similar policy under the Trump administration and expressed skepticism that there was any daylight between Bidens policy and the Trumpera one during a court hearing last week. The Justice Department is expected to appeal the ruling. If the Justice Department moves ahead with an appeal the case will go to the Ninth Circuit which twice affirmed Tigars rulings on similar policies under Trump. The ruling could have major implications on the USMexico border where crossings have plummeted since the rollout of the asylum policy among other measures. The Biden administration has continued to grapple with unprecedented mass movement of people in the Western hemisphere which is the outcome of the coronavirus pandemic decimating conditions in the region. The shifting migration patterns has put a strain on federal resources as border authorities have encountered an increasing number of Cubans Venezuelans and Nicaraguans. The US is largely barred from deporting migrants from those nationalities back to their home countries because of strained diplomatic relations. While there are some exceptions the rule generally applies to migrants who unlawfully cross the US Mexico border. It doesnt apply to unaccompanied migrant children. Blocking the rule would potentially undermine the ability to negotiate with countries who have partnered with the US to manage the flow of migration. In June US Border Patrol arrested nearly migrants along the US southern border marking a decrease from May and marking the lowest monthly border encounters since February according to US Customs and Border Protection data. There are no carrots that the rule itself actually offers she said. The rule generally relies on the parole programs that provide migrants an avenue to apply to lawfully migrate to the US are specific to certain nationalities and not meaningful options for all asylum seekers. Migrants who secure an appointment through the CBP One app to present at port of entry for example are exempt. The ACLU applauded the ruling in a statement. 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 said Katrina Eiland deputy director of the ACLUs Immigrants Rights Project who argued the case. The administration can and should do better to fulfill this promise rather than perpetuate cruel and ineffective policies that betray it. To justify the asylum rule, the rule assumes that these exceptions will at the very least present meaningful options to noncitizens subject to the Rule. These programs are countryspecific and are not universally available even as the government said that the government can roll out certain guidelines for how to implement the rule in its implementation. He also violated a law known the Administrative Procedures Act which sets out how how how to roll out policies for certain agencies can be rolled out. To explain how the rule limiting the eligibility for eligibility for asylum is based on the expansion of other means of protection is to consider Congress to consider other factors. The Rule is therefore arbitrary and arbitrary and capricious.
Federal judge blocks Biden’s controversial asylum policy in a major blow to the administration.
