A California federal judge has reimposed a nationwide injunction that blocks the enforcement of the Trump administration’s new policy for migrants seeking asylum at the southern border. This is now the second time an injunction has been issued in regards to the policy
Last moth, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the previous injunction that blocked the new policy only was to take effect in its district, which is California and Arizona. However, U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar made his ruling on Monday to broaden the scope of the block to New Mexico and Texas. In addition, the 9th circuit will retain jurisdiction to “further develop the record in support of a preliminary injunction extending beyond the Ninth Circuit.”
In his ruling, Tigar says that the organizations challenging the policy serve clients “within and outside of the 9th Circuit.” He adds that these organizations have, “presented sufficient evidence that they will suffer organizational and diversion of resource harms unless the rule is enjoined outside of, as well as within, the 9th Circuit.”
Ever since the announcement of the new policy, the American Civil Liberties Union representing a coalition of immigrants rights groups have been challenging it. ACLU attorney, Lee Gelernt, says that by reissuing the injunction “the court recognized there is grave danger facing asylum-seekers along the entire stretch of the southern border.”
The Solicitor General, Noel Francisco, says that the administration’s new policy was to “alleviate a crushing burden on the U.S. asylum system by prioritizing asylum seekers who most need asylum in the United States.” In response to the ruling, Francisco says that the decision “frustrates the government’s strong interest in a well-functioning asylum system.”
