by Ben Whedon
The D.C. Appeals Court on Friday blocked President Donald Trump’s effort to ban migrants at the Mexican border from claiming asylum.
The 2-1 decision from a three-judge panel found that the policy violated the Immigration and Nationality Act, The Hill reported.
“Congress enacted the asylum statute, with narrow exceptions specified by statute, to grant all foreign individuals ‘physically present’ in the United States a right to apply for asylum and have their individual applications adjudicated,” the ruling declared.
“If the Government wishes to modify this carefully structured and intricate system, it must present those arguments to the only branch of government able to amend the INA [Immigration and Nationality Act]: Congress,” the ruling added.
“Barring foreign individuals who are physically present in the United States from applying for asylum and, if they make the statutory showing that they are eligible, from being considered to receive it cannot be squared with the statute,” the court said, according to CNN.
The decision is a blow to the administration, which is expected to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Since his return to the White House, Trump has worked to stop illegal immigration and to enact mass deportations, repeatedly meeting with judicial obstacles. Despite some wins at the Supreme Court, however, he has not been able to fully enact his agenda.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
