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A federal judge has ruled President Trump cannot deny all asylum claims made at the U.S.-Mexico border. The administration says it plans to appeal the Wednesday ruling. The president has argued that the number of migrants crossing the border amounts to a, quote, "invasion." But as NPR's Tovia Smith reports, the court ruled Trump overstepped his authority.
TOVIA SMITH, BYLINE: Making good on a key campaign promise, Trump issued his proclamation on his first day in office, barring people at the Southern border from applying for asylum. The president argued it was necessary to stop the border from being overrun by illegal immigration. But federal court Judge Randolph Moss in Washington, D.C., rejected the argument, ruling the president lacks authority to override asylum protections granted by Congress. While Trump insists federal law allows him to restrict immigration as long as it's in the interests of the United States, the judge invoked an old line deriding such a broad interpretation of a narrow law, saying it was like cramming a large elephant into even the most spacious of mouse holes. Immigrant rights groups called the ruling a win for human dignity and for the rule of law.
LEE GELERNT: This makes clear even the president can't ignore the laws Congress has passed.
SMITH: ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt argued the case for multiple immigrant rights groups and individuals fighting for the right to claim asylum. That right was granted by law back in 1980, allowing people who fear persecution in their home countries to seek refuge in the U.S.
GELERNT: This ruling will literally save lives for people fleeing grave danger. The United States cannot be one of the few countries in the world that doesn't offer safe haven to people fleeing persecution.
SMITH: Trump administration officials insist they will be vindicated when they appeal. Several called Judge Moss a, quote, "rogue district judge" who's "threatening the safety and security of Americans." The administration also says the judge ignored last week's Supreme Court decision that federal district judges' decisions can't automatically apply nationwide. But that decision left open the possibility for class action lawsuits to have nationwide implications, and this case is a class action. Stanford Law Professor Michael McConnell says the court was right to enforce the law as written, even though he sees it as a bad law that's contributed to illegal immigration. But the fix, he says, is not with the court - it's with Congress.
MICHAEL MCCONNELL: When Congress passed this provision, they didn't imagine that claims of asylum would become a routine contrivance to avoid apprehension at the border. Congress ought to be able to change this relatively rapidly.
SMITH: The court's decision will not take effect for two weeks. That's to give the Trump administration time to appeal. But also, Judge Moss wrote, it's to give officials time to start figuring out how to allow asylum claims to resume.
Tovia Smith, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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