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Trump Asylum Transit Ban Blocked

Decision Preserves Important Protection for Thousands of Asylum Seekers Previously Turned Back at Ports of Entry

SAN FRANCISCO, March 5, 2020 鈥 A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel today blocked the Trump administration鈥檚 asylum transit ban from being applied to thousands of asylum seekers who were unlawfully prevented from accessing the U.S. asylum process before the ban was implemented.

The decision lifts a prior administrative stay of the district court鈥檚 preliminary injunction. That injunction prohibits the government from applying the asylum ban to those who had been illegally metered before the ban went into effect. The Ninth Circuit found that the government failed to demonstrate that it would suffer irreparable harm if the injunction were to go into effect while the Ninth Circuit reviews the merits. The court also found that the government is unlikely to succeed in that appeal鈥攖hat is, it is unlikely to demonstrate it had no duty to grant access to the asylum process to individuals metered prior to the implementation of the asylum ban.听

The case is Al Otro Lado v. Wolf, a class action lawsuit brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center (人兽性交), Center for Constitutional Rights, American Immigration Council and Mayer Brown LLP on behalf of individual asylum seekers and the legal services organization Al Otro Lado (AOL).

鈥淭oday鈥檚 order will protect the lives of asylum seekers who were forced to endure extreme hardship while waiting in dangerous border cities for months for their chance to seek asylum in the United States,鈥 said Erika Pinheiro, AOL Director of Litigation and Policy. 鈥淭hese asylum seekers have a deep commitment to following our laws in seeking protection, and we are relieved to see that their decision to follow our government鈥檚 instructions to wait in Mexico will not prejudice their chances for relief.鈥

Added Melissa Crow, senior supervising attorney with 人兽性交鈥檚 Immigrant Justice Project, 鈥淭he decision is an important one for the thousands of asylum seekers who followed the 鈥榬ules鈥欌攔ules we contend are illegal鈥攁nd waited their turn, only to be told they were out of luck once the transit rule was announced. These individuals, many of whom waited for months to apply for asylum, deserve an opportunity to have the merits of their asylum claims heard.鈥

The administration鈥檚 asylum transit ban requires asylum seekers to have been previously denied protection in a country they traveled through en route to the United States in order to be eligible for asylum here. After the ban went into nationwide effect in September, the rights groups filed a motion to protect the thousands of asylum seekers who would have crossed into the United States before the ban鈥檚 effective date of July 16, 2019, but for the government鈥檚 illegal metering policy that forced them to wait in Mexico before being inspected and processed at ports of entry.

鈥淭oday鈥檚 ruling is another important limitation on the Trump administration鈥檚 attack on asylum seekers and the asylum system, said Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. 鈥淚t recognizes that courts can and should preserve this country鈥檚 commitment to international human rights principles. We hope the court鈥檚 decision will protect the lives and safety of thousands of vulnerable individuals fleeing dangerous conditions at home.鈥

The Ninth Circuit鈥檚 decision today prevents the application of the asylum ban to categorically deny asylum to those vulnerable asylum seekers who should have been processed months ago until the court rules on the government鈥檚 appeal of the district court鈥檚 order. The district court鈥檚 order applies to a provisional class that the court certified as part of its decision.

Read more about the case on the , 人兽性交鈥檚 website, and the .
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Today鈥檚 ruling can be viewed HERE.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, Center for Constitutional Rights, American Immigration Council and Mayer Brown LLP filed the lawsuit, Al Otro Lado v. Wolf, No. 3:17-cv-02366 (S.D. Cal.), in July 2017 on behalf of individual asylum seekers and Al Otro Lado, an immigration legal services provider with offices in Mexico and California.听