Washington The first significant lawsuit against the Trump administration’s declaration of an invasion at the southern border to defend the expulsion of migrants and the denial of their asylum claims was filed Monday by the American Civil Liberties Union and immigration legal aid organizations.
According to a statement from Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants Rights Project, this is an unprecedented power grab that will endanger countless lives. The protections that Congress has provided for people who are escaping danger cannot be unilaterally overridden by a president.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, contends that President Donald Trump’s 212(f) proclamation circumvents congressionally given asylum rights for migrants who are already in the country.
This includes sending asylum seekers to nations where they might be harmed, something the lawsuit claims Congress has mandated the US cannot do.
According to the lawsuit, it is sending asylum seekers—not just adults without children—back to nations where they are subjected to torture or persecution without letting them use the safeguards Congress has established. In fact, even though unaccompanied children are given special rights by law, the Proclamation does not exempt them.
The Immigration and Nationality Act contains the provision 212(f) that Trump referenced in his proclamation. In accordance with that section, the president may, in specific situations, prohibit those without legal status from entering the nation.In order to begin his immigration crackdown, Trump signed a number of executive orders pertaining to immigration on his inauguration day.
During his first term, Trump invoked the same power to defend the so-called Muslim ban, which prohibited entrance for citizens of seven countries with a majority of Muslims, including those with valid immigration statuses. After a number of changes, the U.S. Supreme Court finally sustained the travel ban in 2018, even though the measure was subsequently overturned.
Trump described the admission of asylum seekers to the U.S.-Mexico border as an invasion in his proclamation on January 20. He stated that the states require security and that the White House will halt physical admittance until the president declares the invasion to be over. The southern border has seen the fewest encounters in a number of years.
The lawsuit contends that the removal of undocumented migrants from U.S. territory is happening incredibly fast—often in a matter of hours—for those who may be transported straight from the border to Mexico or their place of origin aboard military aircraft.
Additionally, the lawsuit contends that the proclamation undermines the plaintiffs’ legal assistance efforts, which include the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, and the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services.
According to the lawsuit, migrants were expelled without being given the opportunity to call anyone, much less an attorney, and were informed by immigration officials that asylum does not exist. They also saw documents pertaining to the asylum process being torn from the walls of the facility.
On behalf of those legal aid organizations, the ACLU, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Texas Civil Rights Project, National Immigrant Justice Center, ACLU of the District of Columbia, and ACLU of Texas filed.
