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February 16, 2021, San Francisco – A federal court has again blocked a Trump administration ban that categorically denied asylum to anyone at the southern border who had transited through a third country en route to the United States, with very limited exceptions.
The lawsuit, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v. Barr, was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Constitutional Rights, and Southern Poverty Law Center. U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar issued today’s ruling granting a preliminary injunction. It is the third time a district court has blocked the ban.
The following comments are from:
Katrina Eiland, managing attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project: “This ruling is yet another rebuke of the Trump administration’s attempt to make an end-run around asylum protections enacted by Congress.”
Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights: “The court rightly rejected the Trump administration's cruel, last-ditch effort to destroy our asylum system. We expect the Biden administration to engage quickly and meaningfully to repair the vast harm the Trump administration imposed on vulnerable immigrants and this country's commitment to human rights.”
Melissa Crow, senior supervising attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Immigrant Justice Project: “Thankfully, the court has blocked the previous administration’s 11th-hour attempt to resurrect the asylum transit rule. Following this decision, the countless men, women and children who would otherwise have been deemed ineligible for asylum should finally have the opportunity for a hearing on the merits of their asylum claims.”
The case was brought on behalf of the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, Al Otro Lado, Innovation Law Lab, and the Central American Resource Center in Los Angeles.
The Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for Constitutional Rights has taken on oppressive systems of power, including structural racism, gender oppression, economic inequity, and governmental overreach. Learn more at ccrjustice.org.