Federal judge bars Trump administration from expelling asylum seekers

[Celerity]

The judge ruled that the president cannot create an “alternative immigration system” that tramples on existing federal law.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/07/02/trump-asylum-border-lawsuit-immigration/

https://archive.ph/7XqWk


People seeking asylum in the United States wait in line for their appointment at the entrance to the Paso del Norte International border bridge in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on Jan. 20. (Anna Watts/For The Washington Post)

A federal judge in the District of Columbia on Wednesday barred the Trump administration from expelling asylum seekers from the United States, dealing a blow to the administration’s efforts to curtail crossings at the U.S. southern border. In a 128-page decision, U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss invalidated a proclamation that President Donald Trump signed on his first day in office that declared an “invasion” on the border and invoked emergency presidential powers to deport migrants without allowing them to apply for asylum. Migrants and advocacy groups sued in February, saying federal law allows people to apply for the humanitarian protection no matter how they entered the United States.

Moss stayed his ruling for 14 days pending a likely appeal from the Trump administration. But he wrote that the executive branch cannot create an “alternative immigration system” that tramples on existing federal law. “The Court recognizes that the Executive Branch faces enormous challenges in preventing and deterring unlawful entry into the United States and in adjudicating the overwhelming backlog of asylum claims of those who have entered the country,” Moss wrote. But he added that the Immigration and Nationality Act “provides the sole and exclusive means for removing people already present in the country.”

Depending on the appeal, the ruling could reopen asylum processing on the southern border and enable migrants to cross into the United States in hopes of seeking refuge. The decision is the latest in a long line of litigation over federal asylum law, and the case ultimately could reach the Supreme Court. The White House warned that the decision could lead to another surge on the southern border with Mexico. “A local district court judge has no authority to stop President Trump and the United States from securing our border from the flood of aliens trying to enter illegally,” said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson. “This is an attack on our Constitution, the laws Congress enacted, and our national sovereignty. We expect to be vindicated on appeal.”

The Supreme Court, ruling last week on Trump’s attempts to end birthright citizenship, curtailed judges’ authority to issue the type of sweeping nationwide injunctions that have paused several administration policies while they were under legal review. But Moss, as part of his ruling Wednesday, certified all asylum seekers “currently present in the United States” as a legal class, making his ruling applicable to most people who would be affected by Trump’s policy. Class-action lawsuits were one avenue the Supreme Court justices suggested in their birthright citizenship ruling that lower courts could still provide broad relief to many people in the same situation.

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[malaise]

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