Federal Court Blocks Trump Asylum Ban Again

December 19, 2018 7:30 pm

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SAN FRANCISCO — A federal court has again blocked the Trump administration’s new asylum ban.

The American Civil Liberties Union, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Center for Constitutional Rights were in court earlier today successfully seeking the preliminary injunction in this case, East Bay Sanctuary v. Trump. The groups previously obtained a temporary restraining order that expired today.

Below is reaction to the ruling issued today by Judge Jon Tigar of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco:

ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, who argued the case, said:
“The court has once again made clear that the Trump administration cannot do an end-run around the decision by Congress to provide protection to vulnerable individuals regardless of where they seek asylum. This ruling will save lives.”

Baher Azmy, CCR legal director, said: “This administration continues to try to govern without the most elementary understanding of the roles of the three branches of our government, that Congress makes laws and the courts are there to act as a check on both Congress and the president. So today, as before, the court made clear that the president does not have the power to overturn decades-old asylum law and the international law obligation to permit individuals to seek asylum from terrifying persecution at home.”

Melissa Crow, SPLC senior supervising attorney with the SPLC’s Immigrant Justice Project:
“Today’s ruling provides some hope that the Trump administration will be forced to reconsider its inhumane policies concerning asylum seekers. These policies and related practices have created the crisis at our southern border and can and will have tragic consequences until they are ended. In addition to fighting these policies in our courts, Congress should continue to expand its oversight in these areas and use its power to ensure federal agencies are in compliance with the law.”

The case, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v. Trump, was brought on behalf of East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, Al Otro Lado, Innovation Law Lab, and the Central American Resource Center in Los Angeles.

The ruling is at: https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/order-granting-pi-ebsc-v-trump

More information is at: https://www.aclu.org/cases/east-bay-sanctuary-covenant-v-trump