In a landmark ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John S. Tigar put a hold on a Biden administration rule that sought to restrict asylum applications. The rule, criticized by migrant rights groups, requires migrants to apply for asylum online before reaching the U.S.-Mexico border or to first seek protection in the country they passed through.
The judge delayed the implementation of the ruling to allow the Biden administration to appeal.
Advocates hailed the judge’s decision, arguing that the rule contravened U.S. law guaranteeing the right to asylum regardless of entry method. They cited the inadequate capacity of the government’s CBP One app and concerns about migrants’ safety in transit countries like Mexico.
The administration, justifying the rule, highlighted that migrants should still access protection in other countries and via other pathways, like the CBP One app.
The judge noted the app’s appointments were far exceeded by demand, leaving many asylum seekers stranded in potentially dangerous situations.
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FILE – In this Thursday, June 10, 2021, file photo, a pair of migrant families from Brazil pass through a gap in the border wall to reach the United States after crossing from Mexico to Yuma, Ariz., to seek asylum. The American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups say they are ending settlement talks with the Biden administration over a demand to lift a pandemic-related ban on families seeking asylum in the United States. The breakdown comes three days after two nongovernmental organizations said they were halting work with the administration to identify particularly vulnerable migrants stuck in Mexico for exemptions to Title 42, named for a 1944 public health law. The administration has denied many families and nearly all single adults an opportunity to seek asylum on grounds of preventing spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia, File)A migrant couple struggles while carrying their baby as they approach a gate in the border fence after crossing from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico into El Paso, Texas, in the early hours of Thursday, May 11, 2023. Migrants rushed across the border hours before pandemic-related asylum restrictions were to expire Thursday, fearing that new policies would make it far more difficult to gain entry into the United States. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)A migrant gestures to Texas National Guards standing behind razor wire on the bank of the Rio Grande river, seen from Matamoros, Mexico, Thursday, May 11, 2023. Pandemic-related U.S. asylum restrictions, known as Title 42, are to expire May 11. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
