President Biden made comments on June 4 about executive actions aimed at limiting asylum.
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Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/Getty Images North America
The ACLU filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday challenging the Biden administration. New executive action blocking migrants from seeking asylum at the US southern border as the number of border crossings soars.
Lee Gelernt, chief attorney for the ACLU, told NPR that President Biden’s new measures are almost identical “from a legal standpoint” to those where former President Donald Trump tried to ban migrants seek asylum between ports of entry.
But Gelernt said Congress has been “very clear” that asylum seekers can request relief “whether you enter a port or not.”
“We are challenging President Biden’s executive action because it is clearly illegal and inconsistent with asylum laws that Congress passed decades ago,” Gelernt said in an interview.
“President Trump issued an almost identical asylum ban and we successfully challenged it. We have no choice but to challenge this one too.”
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two advocacy groups in Texas: Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and the Center for Refugee and Immigrant Legal and Educational Services.
The lawsuit does not seek an emergency injunction for the new regulations
The Biden administration announced the rules last week. Specifically, they banned migrants from seeking asylum as they entered the country between ports of entry as the number of people encountered at the border rose above 2,500 per day.
Restrictions can be lifted two weeks later once daily numbers fall below 1,500.
Migrants walk along the US side of the border wall in Jacumba Hot Springs, California, on June 5, after crossing from Mexico.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
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Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
The lawsuit alleges Biden’s rule violates legal procedures for agency rulemaking and adjudication because it does not justify a “radical departure” from prior practices and because The public did not have an opportunity to comment before the rule took effect.
However, the lawsuit does not seek an emergency injunction to block the administration from adopting the new rule. Gelernt said that’s an option for the future once advocates find specific migrants who have been harmed by the measure.
Biden under pressure on border
The border has become an increasingly difficult issue for Biden, due to record numbers of migrants crossing the border — and because polls show most Americans disapprove of how he is handling the challenge.
In announcing the new measures last week, Biden said he was forced to take unilateral action after Republicans rejected a bipartisan compromise on the legislation. Trump has opposed compromise..
The lawsuit was not unexpected. The ACLU announced plans to sue just as Biden announced his measures. The Biden administration says it is ready to defend the new regulations.
