Groups sue Trump admin over new asylum restrictions

A coalition of groups filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday over new restrictions for migrants seeking asylum in the United States, the same day the rule went into effect.

The American Civil Liberties Union, Southern Poverty Law Center and Center for Constitutional Rights are challenging a Trump administration rule that would make asylum seekers who pass through another country before reaching the U.S.-Mexico border ineligible for asylum, with few exceptions. Officials first announced the rule Monday.

Tuesday’s lawsuit was filed in federal court in San Francisco, the coalition said in a press release. The complaint is filed on behalf of several immigration nonprofits in the area.

The lawsuit targets several Trump administration officials, including Attorney General William Barr, acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan and acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ken Cuccinelli, among others.

The groups are seeking an injunction blocking enforcement of the rule and an order striking down the rule itself.

The complaint alleges that the rule violates the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), and that Barr and McAleenan violated the Administrative Procedure Act in issuing the measure.

“As part of our nation’s commitment to the protection of people fleeing persecution and consistent with our international obligations, it is longstanding federal law that merely transiting through a third country is not a basis to categorically deny asylum to refugees who arrive at our shores,” the lawsuit states.

Groups sue Trump admin over new asylum restrictions© Getty Images

A coalition of groups filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday over new restrictions for migrants seeking asylum in the United States, the same day the rule went into effect.

The American Civil Liberties Union, Southern Poverty Law Center and Center for Constitutional Rights are challenging a Trump administration rule that would make asylum seekers who pass through another country before reaching the U.S.-Mexico border ineligible for asylum, with few exceptions. Officials first announced the rule Monday.

Tuesday’s lawsuit was filed in federal court in San Francisco, the coalition said in a press release. The complaint is filed on behalf of several immigration nonprofits in the area.

The lawsuit targets several Trump administration officials, including Attorney General William Barr, acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan and acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ken Cuccinelli, among others.

The groups are seeking an injunction blocking enforcement of the rule and an order striking down the rule itself.

The complaint alleges that the rule violates the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), and that Barr and McAleenan violated the Administrative Procedure Act in issuing the measure.

“As part of our nation’s commitment to the protection of people fleeing persecution and consistent with our international obligations, it is longstanding federal law that merely transiting through a third country is not a basis to categorically deny asylum to refugees who arrive at our shores,” the lawsuit states.

Specifically, the lawsuit points to provisions in the INA that state an asylum seeker cannot be granted asylum because of their ties to a third country only if “firmly resettled in that third country or subject to a safe third country agreement.”

“The Rule thus bars virtually every noncitizen fleeing persecution from obtaining asylum in the United States if they passed through another country on their way here, no matter the conditions or purpose of their journey through that country or their prospect of protection, rights, or permanent legal status in that country,” the lawsuit states. 

Read the entire article here: https://thehill.com/latino/453377-groups-sue-trump-admin-over-new-asylum-restrictions

Jacqueline Thomsen