Federal judge blocks Biden administration’s new asylum rule | Local

TUCSON (KVOA) –  When Title 42 ended this past May, the White House revised immigration and asylum policies.

One of those new rules disqualifies people from applying for asylum without making an appointment at an official port of entry or if they have crossed into the U.S. and cannot prove they tried to seek asylum in another country along their journey.

Immigration advocacy groups sued saying that’s against the law.

On Tuesday, a federal judge in California dealt the White House a blow by blocking the rule.

“We are supposed to be accepting asylum seekers,” Tucson immigration attorney Mo Goldman said. “Regardless of whether they have asked for asylum in other countries, that is not what is required under the law. I have for example clients that come from African countries and their only way to come to the United States is typically through South America. Then, they have to travel through, sometimes up to 10 different countries just to get to the United States.”

The judge stayed his ruling for 14 days to give the Department of Justice time to appeal.

“Nothing has changed,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said. “There’s a stay which means our border enforcement remains in full effect. The Department of Justice will appeal the decision and seek to extend the stay.”

Last month, border patrol agents reported just more than 100,000 illegal crossings at the southern border, the lowest monthly total since February 2021.