Court backs Donald Trump bid to bar asylum seekers

Donald Trump tweeted that the news was a 'big win for the border on asylum'
REUTERS
David Gardner12 September 2019

The Supreme Court has given Donald Trump the green light to bar most Central American asylum seekers from entering the country.

The ruling allows the administration to refuse asylum to migrants who pass through another country on the way to the US without seeking protection there.

Worst hit will be migrants fleeing violence and poverty in Central American countries who travel north, many by foot, through Mexico in the hope of being allowed into the US.

“BIG United States Supreme Court WIN for the Border on Asylum!” the President tweeted today after the decision was announced last night.

The court’s majority verdict effectively overrules a lower court judge’s decision in San Francisco that has been blocking the White House’s asylum policy since July.

But both dissenting justices on the nine-judge Supreme Court — Democrat appointees Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg — claimed the court’s backing for Mr Trump would put thousands of lives at risk.

Mexican citizens fleeing violence, queue to cross into the US to apply for asylum at Paso del Norte border crossing
REUTERS

“It is especially concerning, moreover, that the rule the government promulgated topples decades of settled asylum practices and affects some of the most vulnerable people in the Western hemisphere,” wrote Justice Sotomayor.

“Once again the executive branch has issued a rule that seeks to upend long-standing practices regarding refugees who seek shelter from persecution.”

The Supreme Court decision will be a “death sentence” for some migrants, claimed Rebecca Kirzner of the refugee-support group HIAS.

The new rules will not affect Mexican migrants. Victims of human trafficking will still be allowed to apply.

Although the stay is almost certain to be challenged, there will not be time for another hearing this term, meaning it will probably remain in place at least until the 2020 presidential election.

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