July 24, 2019, San Francisco — This evening, a federal court blocked a new Trump administration asylum 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 Center for Constitutional Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Southern Poverty Law Center are challenging the policy and were in court in San Francisco today seeking the preliminary injunction. U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar issued the ruling, which takes effect immediately. 

The following reaction is from:

Baher Azmy, Center for Constitutional Rights legal director: “The court correctly decided that decades of U.S. asylum law prevent this administration from attempting to deny wholesale, asylum protections through this arbitrary and hasty regulation. This application of the law will also save lives of vulnerable refugees fleeing for their lives and safety.”

ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt: “The court recognized, as it did with the first asylum ban, that the Trump administration was attempting an unlawful end run around asylum protections enacted by Congress.”

Melissa Crow, senior supervising attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Immigrant Justice Project: “Today’s ruling is an important victory for incredibly vulnerable individuals and families from besieged Central American countries seeking refuge in our country. We will continue to fight this draconian policy as well as the myriad of others through which the Trump administration continues to wage war on asylum-seekers and our nation’s asylum system.”

For more information, visit the Center for Constitutional Rights case page for East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v. Barr.