A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. ruled that President Donald Trump’s day-one executive order blocking asylum petitions at the border was illegal.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued its decision blocking the Trump administration’s order on Friday, April 24. The judges stated that the existing law, including the Immigration and Nationality Act, grants people the right to apply for asylum at the U.S. border, and the president cannot overrule these laws.
“Congress did not intend to grant the Executive the expansive removal authority it asserts,” the judges wrote in the ruling. “The Proclamation and Guidance are thus unlawful to the extent that they circumvent the INA’s removal procedures and cast aside federal laws affording individuals the right to apply and be considered for asylum or withholding of removal protections.”
The ruling will not take effect immediately, as the Trump administration can request reconsideration of the decision.
The Department of Homeland Security condemned the decision.
“We strongly disagree with this ruling from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals — this will not be the last word on this matter,” a DHS spokesperson said. “President Trump’s top priority remains the screening and vetting of all aliens seeking to come, live, or work in the United States. We will use all of the tools in our toolbox to ensure that the integrity of our legal immigration system is upheld, fraud is uncovered and expeditiously addressed, and illegal aliens are removed from the country.”
Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 declaring there was an invasion at the southern border, where tens of thousands of people waited for appointments through the CBP One application. The order shut down the app, which had been launched by the administration of President Joe Biden to process asylum petitions amid the mass arrival of migrants at the border, and suspended asylum.
The executive order caused shock and dismay among migrants awaiting their asylum screening interviews scheduled through their applications.
Immigrant rights advocates welcomed decision
Advocates are celebrating the appeals court’s decision.
“This decision puts an end to the inhumane Trump policy of sending people, including families with little children, back to horrific danger without even a hearing,” Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney, who argued the appeal, said in a statement. “The court made clear that the president does not have the unilateral power to wipe away all of the asylum laws enacted by Congress.”
Immigrant rights advocates, including Raices, ACLU, the El Paso-based Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, and the Texas Civil Rights Project, among many others, quickly filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s declaration of an invasion and ban on asylum. They hope that due process will now return to the asylum process.
“Today’s D.C. Circuit ruling affirms that capricious actions by the president cannot supplant the rule of law in the United States,” Nicolas Palazzo, director of advocacy and legal services with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, said in the statement. “The right to seek asylum is firmly grounded in U.S. law and binding international obligations. This decision is a meaningful victory for our clients, who have been denied access to protection under policies deliberately designed to shut the door on people fleeing violence and persecution — policies that are inconsistent with those legal standards and basic due process.”
Jeff Abbott covers the border for the El Paso Times and can be reached at:jdabbott@usatodayco.com; @palabrasdeabajo on Twitter or @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Federal court rules Trump’s asylum ban unlawful, appeal looms
Reporting by Jeff Abbott, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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