A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the Trump Administration can continue to keep returning asylum seekers in Mexico (for now).
A panel of three judges on the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit cited many different reasons for allowing the migrants to stay in Mexico while they wait for an immigration judge to hear their cases.
This is yet another victory for Trump and America.
Politico reported:
Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, an appointee of former President Ronald Reagan, authored the 11-page opinion and wrote that the administration was likely to succeed on legal challenges to the policy under federal immigration and regulatory law.
O’Scannlain also said the Homeland Security Department could face harm if a federal court order freezes one of its enforcement tools.
“DHS is likely to suffer irreparable harm absent a stay because the preliminary injunction takes off the table one of the few congressionally authorized measures available to process the approximately 2,000 migrants who are currently arriving at the nation’s southern border on a daily basis,” he wrote.
The other two judges — Obama and Clinton appointees — also backed allowing the policy to stay in effect, but raised questions about it in concurring opinions.
Judge William Fletcher, the Clinton appointee, argued that existing federal statute did not allow DHS to send migrants to Mexico under the program.
“The government is wrong,” he wrote. “Not just arguably wrong, but clearly and flagrantly wrong.“
Last month Judge Richard Seeborg blocked President Trump’s policy of returning asylum seekers to Mexico as they wait their turn for an immigration judge to hear their cases.
Judge Seeborg, an Obama appointee in San Francisco, granted a request by a civil liberties group that sued the Trump Administration on behalf of 11 asylum seekers from Central America.
The lawsuit claims the Trump Administration violated US law by failing to properly evaluate the dangers that migrants face in Mexico — it also accuses DHS officials of depriving migrants of their right to apply for asylum.
Tuesday’s ruling in favor of the Trump administration will stay in effect until the case continues before the appeals court.
