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A federal judge denied a motion for a temporary restraining order Wednesday against the Trump administration’s latest attempt to widely restrict asylum for migrants at the southern border, according to the court record and statements from groups challenging the policy.
U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly on Wednesday declined to temporarily block the new interim rule that would broadly end asylum eligibility for migrants who pass through another country on their journey to the United States' southern border with Mexico but do not attempt to seek the protection in that country first.
In denying the request for the temporary restraining order, Kelly said the groups challenging the rule did not show that their work would be irreparably harmed if the policy moved forward, according to The Associated Press.
The rule was challenged in a lawsuit filed July 16 in Washington, D.C., by the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services and the Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition.
“We are disappointed in the court’s decision today, but we will continue to fight to ensure that this harmful rule does not unjustly impact children and adults who apply for asylum, as well as immigration legal service providers’ ability to help asylum-seekers,” Claudia Cubas, CAIR Coalition’s litigation director, said in a statement Wednesday.
Jonathan Ryan, executive director of RAICES, said in a statement, “We are deeply concerned that if this rule goes into effect, migrants seeking refuge from extremely dangerous places will have few options to protect themselves and their families.”
In addition to the claims of irreparable harm, the suit says the administration’s rule violates migrants’ due process rights, anti-trafficking protections and is unlawful under federal statutes.
The new interim rule also faces a challenge in California by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Center for Constitutional Rights. That case was also set for a hearing Wednesday. That judge has previously issued an injunction in another case involving asylum restrictions by President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration announced the sweeping change last week. Civil rights and legal advocacy groups swiftly challenged the new interim rule July 16, the day the administration said it went into effect.
In the past, federal judges have blocked other attempts by the administration to change the asylum policy, most notably the president's effort to deny the protection to anyone who did not enter the U.S. through a legal port of entry.
The language of the new interim rule on asylum at the southern border includes very limited exceptions, for migrants who were denied asylum in at least one other country before the U.S., migrants who can show they meet the definition of a "victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons,” or migrants who came to the U.S. through countries which are not parties to three international treaties regarding asylum and refugees.
The rule does not prevent migrants from seeking two different forms of protection, withholding of removal or relief under the Convention against Torture. Those forms of relief face a much higher standard of proof than the standard in credible fear interviews, an initial step in the asylum process, and are more limited forms of relief than asylum.
