President Donald Trump’s administration slammed a San Francisco-based federal judge’s ruling Tuesday morning that states a policy requiring asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their claims are adjudicated is not legal.
A liberal activist judge in San Francisco ruled the United States and Mexico can’t work together to address asylum issues at the border. It’s sad that Mexico is now doing more to secure our border than Democrats – President Trump will do whatever it takes to keep Americans safe.
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) April 9, 2019
Trump also tweeted his fury with the decision Monday evening, saying:
A 9th Circuit Judge just ruled that Mexico is too dangerous for migrants. So unfair to the U.S. OUT OF CONTROL! https://t.co/XF8o3jMDle
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 9, 2019
Judge Richard Seeborg ruled Monday evening that new regulations developed by the Department of Homeland Security requiring migrants claiming asylum to remain in Mexico is not legal. The ruling was made on the basis that migrants claiming asylum are not receiving the humanitarian protections available under U.S. asylum protocols. (RELATED: Sanctuary Laws Allowed Illegal Immigrant Who Tried To Kill A Cop Remain In The US, ICE Claims)
A young member of the immigrant caravan clutches a fence separating Guatemala from Mexico. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Seeborg wrote, “does the [Remain in Mexico policy] include sufficient safeguards to comply with DHS’s admitted legal obligation not to return any alien to a territory where his or her ‘life or freedom would be threatened’? In support of their motion for a preliminary injunction, the plaintiffs have sufficiently shown the answer to both questions is ‘no.'”
TOPSHOT – Honduran migrants take part in a caravan towards the United States in Chiquimula, Guatemala on October 17, 2018. – A migrant caravan set out on October 13 from the impoverished, violence-plagued country and was headed north on the long journey through Guatemala and Mexico to the US border. President Donald Trump warned Honduras he will cut millions of dollars in aid if the group of about 2,000 migrants is allowed to reach the United States. (Photo by ORLANDO ESTRADA / AFP)
DHS developed the “Remain in Mexico” policy to counter current requirements known as “catch and release,” which mandates that U.S. authorities process and then release family units from Central America who are claiming asylum into that country. The families are given court dates years later to adjudicate their asylum claims.
Officials say many migrants eventually have their claims rejected in court and that by the time a final order of deportation is given down from a federal judge, migrants simply do not show up. A senior administration official characterized the loophole as “backdoor illegal immigration.”