A federal judge has halted President Trump’s order denying asylum for all foreign nationals who entered the country illegally.
“Whatever the scope of the president’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden,” Tigar’s decision reads. Tigar is an Obama appointee to the federal trial court in San Francisco.
President Donald Trump issued an order on Nov. 9 denying asylum for all foreign nationals who enter the country illegally for a 90-day period. The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the proclamation in court, arguing it violates the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.
Federal law provides that “any alien who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in the United States (whether or not at a designated port of arrival and including an alien who is brought to the United States after having been interdicted in international or United States waters), irrespective of such alien’s status, may apply for asylum in accordance” with applicable statutes.