“We are challenging President Biden’s executive action because it’s flatly illegal and inconsistent with the asylum laws that Congress passed decades ago,” ACLU Lead Attorney Lee Gelernt told NPR in an interview.
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of President Joe Biden’s executive order restricting certain asylum-seekers from entering the United States.
According to National Public Radio, the complaint was filed in federal court earlier today.
“We are challenging President Biden’s executive action because it’s flatly illegal and inconsistent with the asylum laws that Congress passed decades ago,” ACLU Lead Attorney Lee Gelernt told NPR in an interview.
Biden’s executive order, which was announced last week, makes it somewhat more difficult for immigrants to seek asylum after illegally crossing the border.
Under the order’s provisions, migrants who do not express fear of being returned to their home countries will be subject to immediate remov al. And those who do specifically request asylum will be forwarded for screening—but shall only be granted parole if they provide much more substantive evidence for their claims than previously required.
Gelernt has since called these provisions unlawful, saying that they contradict longstanding statutes on immigration and asylum procedures.
“The asylum statute could not be clearer—that one must be able to seek protection regardless of where they enter the country, which is why the courts struck down Trump’s near-identical asylum ban and is undoubtedly why the Biden administration has acknowledged that it may not be able to do this by unilateral executive fiat,” Gelernt told The New York Times.
The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and a number of other activist organizations—including the National Immigrant Justice Center and the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies—on behalf of two non-profit organizations.
Karen Zwick, litigation director for the National Immigrant Justice Center, signaled fears that the executive order could lead to legitimate asylum-seekers being denied shelter.
“Around the world, people are fleeing persecution and torture at higher rates than ever before. It’s shameful that the U.S. government has chosen to respond by shutting out access to those who come to our border in need,” Zwick said. “NIJC has provided legal services to thousands of people arriving via the U.S.-Mexico border over the past several years and, regardless of how they entered the country, our clients have overwhelmingly had credible asylum claims.”
“Under U.S. law, that should be enough to give them an opportunity to present their cases,” she said. “We have no doubt that this rule is turning back people who, if the government honored its legal obligations, would qualify for protection.”
The complaint alleges that the executive order is broadly unlawful because it alters federal procedures and adjudication-related procedures without offering justification for “radical departures” from past policy.
Sources
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Immigrants’ Rights Groups Sue Biden Administration Over New Anti-Asylum Rule
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