Trump extends asylum denial policy in defiance of federal court order

US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday extending for another 90 days an earlier proclamation that banned migrants caught entering the US illegally from seeking asylum.

The initial order was blocked by federal judge in the Northern District of California. The judge ruled that the policy directly conflicted with the text of 8 USC § 1158(a)(1). The order was upheld by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the US Supreme Court denied the Trump administration’s request to overturn this decision.

In Thursday’s order, Trump stated that the extension was necessary because “the problem of large numbers of aliens traveling through Mexico to enter our country unlawfully or without proper documentation has not materially improved, and indeed in several respects has worsened, since November 9, 2018 [when the initial order was signed].”

Trump also criticized the district judge’s decision and indicated that his administration will continue fighting the injunction. His stated goal in extending the proclamation is so that “[s]hould the injunction be lifted, aliens who enter the United States unlawfully through the southern border in contravention of this proclamation will be ineligible to be granted asylum under that interim final rule.”

Source: Jurist