Judicial Activism Slows Trump’s Attempt To Fix Asylum Abuse

John Romero | July 25, 2019
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The Trump administration was handed a major win on Wednesday after a federal judge refused to block a rule change involving the administration's ‘safe third-country agreement’. But the victory ended up being short-lived.

The administration change prevented asylum seekers from applying in the US if they already had traversed through a country that has been deemed safe. Mere hours after that ruling though, a different federal judge has decided that the President can't enact this policy and then unilaterally prevented the administration from instituting it. 

From AP:

Wednesday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco came hours after a judge in Washington decided to let the rules stand while lawsuits played out in court. The policy would prevent most migrants from seeking asylum in the U.S. if they passed through another country first. And only if that migrant were to be denied asylum in that country would they be eligible to apply to the United States.

The AP report omits thought that if the migrant would be denied asylum in a safe country, they would still be able to apply to the U.S.

This new ruling will prevent the administration from trying to give relief to already overwhelmed detention facilities and only allows the current crisis to continue. 

Fox News quoted a statement by Attorney General Bill Barr on the rule change back mid-July, when he said it would help prevent,

Forum shopping by economic migrants and those who seek to exploit our asylum system to obtain entry to the United States—while ensuring that no one is removed from the United States who is more likely than not to be tortured or persecuted on account of a protected ground.

The rule change will not be implemented after a single judge in California prevented the Executive branch from carrying out its constitutional function of defending the border. 
 

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