A US appeals court has allowed President Joe Biden’s new regulation barring asylum access at the US-Mexico border to remain in place for the time being, providing the Democrat with a short-term victory as he deals with legal objections to his immigration approach.
The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco stayed a district judge’s July 25 finding that ruled the regulation violated US law by denying asylum to some migrants caught crossing the border illegally.
Biden entered office in 2021 promising to undo many of outgoing Republican President Donald Trump’s hardline policies, but he has implemented some Trump-like border tactics as his administration has faced record migrant crossings.
Biden’s new asylum guideline assumes that most migrants are ineligible for asylum if they went through other countries without first seeking protection elsewhere, or if they failed to follow legitimate entry routes into the US. When Title 42 expired on May 11, the bill went into effect.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other groups filed a lawsuit against the Biden bill, claiming it unjustly refused refuge to some migrants caught crossing the border illegally and duplicated Trump-era limitations that were also overturned in court.
US District Court Judge Jon Tigar, who halted earlier Trump measures, annulled the Biden regulation but granted a 14-day stay to allow for an appeal.
Tigar stated that US law does not restrict asylum access for persons illegally crossing the border and that transit countries to the south do not provide safe and viable alternatives to migrants.
The 9th Circuit’s decision to keep the Biden policy in effect does not imply that it will eventually decide in favour of it.
The 9th Circuit upheld Tigar’s decision to suspend a similar Trump order that limited asylum for migrants transiting through other countries en route to the United States in 2020.
The ACLU has the option of appealing the current verdict to the United States Supreme Court, but conservative justices outweigh liberals 6-3.
Source: Reuters