Stop me if you’ve heard this one …
A federal California judge on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump’s order to deny asylum claims at the country’s southern border, dealing another blow to the administration’s promise to stop migrants and migrant caravans traveling from Central America to the U.S.
Hours after a Trump-appointed judge, Timothy J. Kelly of Washington, D.C., said the policy would be allowed, at least temporarily, a Northern District of California judge, Jon Tigar of San Francisco, appointed by former President Barack Obama issued a nationwide injunction blocking the order.
The double rulings essentially guarantee the case over restricting asylum claims will be appealed, and will likely end up before the Supreme Court.
The Trump administration announced this week that asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border would be denied for those who had traveled from Central America through Mexico to the U.S. The plan would force Central American migrants to first seek asylum in Mexico.
The Southern Poverty Law Center challenged the plan in court, along with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights.
“The court recognized, as it did with the first asylum ban, that the Trump administration was attempting an unlawful end run around asylum protections enacted by Congress,” said Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the ACLU.
The court order, at least temporarily, is the latest setback for the Trump administration, which hasn’t been able to secure funding for a border wall to prevent tens of thousands of migrants from coming to the U.S. each month. Congress also has been unable (unwilling?) to come up with a solution.
A Gallup poll released this week confirmed immigration is now seen by U.S. citizens as the No. 1 problem facing the country.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief Matthew Albence is expected to testify before Congress today and ask for more money to deport the 10-plus million illegal immigrants already in the U.S.
“If we only enforce our immigration laws at the border and fail to provide adequate resources to ensure those who have entered illegally proceed through the immigration process and, if ordered removed, are actually removed, the entire system will break down,” Albence will say in prepared remarks, according to ABC News. “Such failure will continue to serve as a magnet for additional aliens to illegally enter the country.”