RESTRICTIONS ON ASYLUM BLOCKED.  A San Francisco judge issued a temporary restraining order last night, preventing the Trump Administration from implementing its new limitations on asylum.  Those regulations sought to deny access to asylum to many refugees at our Southern border.  Judge Michael Tigar of the U.S. District Court held that the law appears to violate the U.S. Refugee Act of 1980, as well as other provisions of law.

The United States Refugee Act (Public Law 96-212) was passed by Congress in 1980 to provide an established procedure for the admission to the United States of refugees of special humanitarian concern to the U.S.   That statute guarantees individuals the right to seek asylum whether at the U.S. border, a port of entry or even from the interior of the country. https://www.thoughtco.com/united-states-refugee-act-1980-1952018

Many of the refugees arriving as part of the caravans seek to apply for asylum at the U.S. border port of entry.   As reported in the Washington Post, some of those and others have gone to the wrong port of entry or crossed the border in desperation when they were turned away at a port of entry.  The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has limited access to ports of entry and closed lanes of access routinely, greatly restricting the numbers of asylum seekers who may apply through the port of entry.   

The Trump Administration was attempting to limit access to asylum to only those persons applying at the port of entry.  Those who crossed the border at other points would be ineligible.   But the judge held that this limitation runs contrary to the express terms of the 1980 law.

 “If what Defendants intend to say is that the President by proclamation can override Congress’s clearly expressed legislative intent, simply because a statute conflicts with the President’s policy goals, the Court rejects that argument also,” the judge found

“This ban is illegal, will put people’s lives in danger, and raises the alarm about President Trump’s disregard for separation of powers, “ stated the ACLU lawyer who brought the case.   “There is no justifiable reason to flatly deny people the right to apply for asylum, and we cannot send them back to danger based on the manner of their entry. Congress has been clear on this point for decades.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/11/20/blow-trumps-immigration-agenda-federal-judge-blocks-asylum-ban-migrants-who-enter-illegally-mexico/?utm_term=.10c4a89558a2