Trump Ban on Asylum Requests Can’t Be Implemented During Appeal

(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration won't be allowed to implement a new restriction on asylum applications at the U.S.-Mexican border until a judge decides whether it's legal.

U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar temporarily barred the implementation of the rule on July 25, and the administration had asked that he put his decision on hold while it appeals. On Thursday, Tigar denied that request and said the government isn't likely to win the appeal.

The administration wants to bar immigrants arriving at the southern border from applying for asylum in the U.S. if they haven't tried to do so in another country that they traveled through. The judge reiterated his previous conclusion that the rule conflicted with the Immigration and Nationality Act's principle that asylum applications can only be restricted if other safe options are available.

“The rule contained no reasonable assurances that the third countries implicated presented safe options, yet would deny claims on that basis,” the judge said Thursday.

Tigar also took aim at the government's contention that he didn't take into account U.S. agencies' observations that Mexico is a safe country to seek asylum for Central Americans, saying they were ignoring “inconvenient facts” and offered no reasoned explanation why they reached a contrary conclusion from respected humanitarian organizations.

The case is East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v. Barr, 19-cv-04073, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).

To contact the reporter on this story: Edvard Pettersson in Los Angeles at epettersson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider, Steve Stroth

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.