Federal judge strikes down Trump admin limits on asylum and immigration applications
By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN
(CNN) — A federal judge struck down a series of Trump administration policies targeting asylum seekers and immigrants seeking benefits in a scathing court ruling Friday.
Last year, the administration indefinitely suspended asylum adjudications and froze immigration applications for people who fell under the travel ban, among other measures, leaving millions of immigrants in the United States in legal limbo.
Judge John J. McConnell Jr. acknowledged that uncertainty in his 135-page opinion.
“(T)he Challenged Policies placed the lives of countless individuals on hold – solely by virtue of their countries of birth,” wrote McConnell, a nominee of former President Barack Obama. “Over six months later, many of those individuals remain without work, without legal status, and without any meaningful ability to plan for their futures.”
McConnell went on to lambast what he described as “strong evidence of anti-immigrant animus.”
“The Government effectively invites the Court to shut its eyes and ignore the strong evidence of anti-immigrant animus before it,” the judge wrote. “Doing so would require profound naiveté on the Court’s part. Unfortunately for the Government, that is an invitation that this Court will have to decline.”
US Citizenship and Immigration Services enacted the changes last year after an Afghan national shot two National Guard members in Washington, DC. He has pleaded not guilty.
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, an advocacy organization, said in a statement that the ruling “reaffirms a basic principle: the federal government cannot shut down lawful immigration pathways or discriminate against people based on where they come from,”
“We are pleased that the court recognized the devastating human consequences of these policies. Our communities deserve a fair process governed by law, not political targeting rooted in fear and discrimination,” Perryman added.
DHS General Counsel James Percival blasted Friday’s decision.
“The Left has been running the same gambit with so called ‘animus’ claims since 2017. It is sabotage dressed in legal clothing,” Percival said in a statement. “It goes like this: (1) the admin is racist, (2) therefore a policy I don’t like is motivated by race, (3) therefore it is invalid. They have used it on virtually every Trump era Department of Homeland Security policy.”
This story has been updated with comment from DHS.
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