The Independent View: Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump Asylum Rule Targeting Central Americans

A Federal Judge in Washington Struck Down a Trump Administration Policy late Tuesday, July 1st, that Bars most Central Americans and other Migrants from Requesting Asylum at the Southern Border, saying the Government Failed to Justify making the Sudden Change last July without Public Notice or Comment.

The Policy is aimed at Blocking Central American Migration by Requiring Asylum Seekers from: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and elsewhere, to First Apply for Asylum in Countries they Pass through on the way to the U.S., particularly Mexico or Guatemala.

U.S. District Judge, Timothy J. Kelly, of Washington, D.C., a Trump Appointee, held that the Administration “unlawfully promulgated” the Rule, Failing to show it was in the Public Interest to Stealthily Implement the Change and Bypass the Administrative Procedure Act.

It is Unclear what Immediate Effect the Order will have. Citing the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic, the Trump Administration has Sealed the U.S. Immigration System so Tightly that just Two People seeking Humanitarian Protection at the Southern Border between March 21st and May 13th were Allowed to stay.

Still, the Decision marked another Defeat for the Government, which had Argued that Advance Notice of the Third-Country Requirement would Trigger a Surge of Applicants seeking to Evade the Rule before it took Effect.

In a 52-page Opinion, Kelly said the Government based its Argument almost entirely on a Single Newspaper Article from October 2018 that Suggested when the Trump Administration Ended its Policy of Separating Immigrant Families at the Border that year, the Proportion of Asylum Seekers with Children Increased. “The article does little if anything to support Defendants’ prediction that undertaking notice-and-comment rulemaking would have led to a dramatic, immediate surge of asylum applicants at the border,” Kelly wrote. He added: “And other articles from the administrative record that Defendants cite either do not support, or even undermine, their prediction of such a surge.”

Kelly also Denied a Government Request to Stay his Order Vacating the Rule Pending Appeal, saying, “The Court sees no reason to do so.”