The Trump administration was sued Monday for its effort to finish asylum protections on the border with a Day One government order.
The swimsuit, introduced by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of nonprofits that present authorized companies to asylum seekers, argues the transfer contradicts U.S. legislation permitting migrants to hunt safety from persecution and hazard.
“Via the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), Congress has created a complete statutory system permitting noncitizens fleeing persecution or torture to hunt safety in america,” they wrote within the swimsuit.
“Congress has given these people statutory rights to use for asylum and different protections. And it has prohibited the federal government from returning these people to locations the place they face persecution or torture,” they add.
“This suit concerns the Executive Branch’s attempt to wipe away these statutes by fiat.”
President Trump’s directive to finish asylum got here in an order in any other case promising to guard states from an “invasion” on the border.
He referred to 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act — which, much like Title 42, permits the suspension of migrants for public well being or security causes.
However the attorneys argue the availability predates asylum protections that bar swift expulsion of those that might face hazard.
“Section 212(f) does not empower the President to expel noncitizens from the United States, much less to do so in a manner that contradicts the specific restrictions on the removal of noncitizens that Congress imposed elsewhere in the INA,” they wrote.
“The Proclamation is as unlawful as it is unprecedented.”
Trump’s collection of early government orders contained contradictory language concerning asylum. One other order additionally reestablishes the Stay in Mexico program, which requires migrants to attend out any asylum case in Mexico.
The White Home and the Division of Homeland Safety, each named within the swimsuit, didn’t instantly reply to request for remark.
Trump is going through different fits associated to his government orders, together with a number of challenges to an order searching for to unwind birthright citizenship for these born within the nation, a assure underneath the 14th Modification to the Structure.
A decide has quickly barred that order from taking impact.
