A federal judge on Friday rejected a proposal by immigration advocates to bar U.S. authorities from turning away asylum seekers at border crossings with Mexico if they don’t have an appointment on a mobile phone app.
The ruling is a victory for the Biden administration and its approach to forging new paths to entry into the United States, while also making it more difficult for people who don’t follow established procedures to apply for asylum.
From January to August, when the CBP One app was introduced, more than 263,000 people made appointments through the CBP One app, including 45,400 appointments processed in August. The top nationalities for people who made plans were Haitian, Mexican, and Venezuelan.
The app has been criticized by those on the right for being too permissive and by those on the left for being too restrictive.
Lawyers for Al Otro Lado and the Haiti Bridge Alliance said in a prepared statement ahead of Friday’s hearing in San Diego that CBP One is “the only source of access to U.S. asylum processing at the southern border (port of entry).” He claimed that it had become a “mechanism.” Turning people back without a reservation violates agency policy and leaves them “stranded in a dangerous town on the Mexican border, exposing them to the risk of kidnapping, assault, rape, and murder,” they said. .
The Justice Department maintained that it had no policy to turn away asylum seekers. Government lawyers wrote that those with commitments will be given priority, but officials cannot “turn away” those without commitments.
Federal District Judge Andrew Schopler, appointed by President Joe Biden, said he is effectively bound by Supreme Court precedents that limit his authority over immigration policy.
Melissa Crowe, an attorney with the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies who is representing the plaintiffs, said the plaintiffs were disappointed with the decision and were considering an appeal.
Justice Department lawyer Catherine Shanners told the judge that his reasoning was correct and that the case was “fairly simple.”
Faced with an influx of asylum-seekers from more than 100 countries, the administration’s efforts to combine legal action and increased enforcement are being challenged in court on a number of fronts.
The government has appealed a decision blocking new rules that would make it more difficult for people who enter the United States illegally through other countries, such as Mexico, to apply for asylum. This rule remains in effect pending appeal.
Another high-profile case challenges a policy that allows up to 30,000 people a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to stay for two years if they apply online to financial sponsors and arrive at the airport. is chanting. Texas leads 21 states in arguing that Mr. Biden has gone too far, saying it is tantamount to creating a new visa program that would allow hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals to enter the United States without any basis.
The challenge to CBP One continues in San Diego, despite a judge’s refusal to intervene immediately on Friday.
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