ACLU Sues Over Trump Shutting Down Asylum Access at the Southern Border

Immigration advocacy groups on Monday sued the Trump administration over its ban on asylum access at the southern border, saying the sweeping restrictions illegally put people who are fleeing war and persecution in harm’s way.

The decision outlined in one of President Donald Trump’s immigration-related executive orders is “as unlawful as it is unprecedented,” the groups — led by the American Civil Liberties Union — said in the complaint, filed in a Washington federal court.

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The ACLU and other groups filed the complaint on behalf of Arizona-based Florence Project, El Paso-based Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and Texas-based RAICES.

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In an executive order, Trump declared that the situation at the southern border constitutes an invasion of America and that he was “suspending the physical entry” of migrants until he decides it’s over.

The executive order also suspended the ability of migrants to ask for asylum.

In the executive order, Trump argued that the Immigration and Nationality Act gives presidents the authority to suspend entry of any group that they finds “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”

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In the lawsuit, the groups argued that immigration “even at elevated levels” does not constitute an invasion and noted that the number of people entering the country between the ports of entry had fallen to lows not seen since August 2020.

“The proclamation makes the sham claim of an invasion to justify wiping away all means of seeking asylum, with no regard for the fact that Congress has taken pains over four plus decades to create a safe haven for those fleeing danger,” said Lee Gelernt, lead attorney for the ACLU who’s argued many of the key asylum-related cases during the past two administrations. “No President, including President Trump during his first Term, has ever claimed the power to unilaterally eliminate asylum.”

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