A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the Trump administration from preventing migrants who crossed the southern border anywhere other than a recognized port of entry from applying for asylum.
In a 128-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss ruled that Trump illegally exceeded his authority by unilaterally declaring that illegal immigration was a national emergency in an executive order on his first day in office.
Specifically, Moss found that Trump’s order violated the Immigration and Nationality Act.
“Nothing in the INA or the Constitution grants the President or his delegees the sweeping authority asserted in the Proclamation and implementing guidance,” Moss wrote in the opinion.
Moss postponed his ruling for 14 days, giving the administration an opportunity to ask an appeals court to intervene — an avenue the White House intends to pursue, spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to NOTUS.
“The judge’s decision — which contradicts the Supreme Court’s ruling against granting universal relief — would allow entry into the United States of all aliens who may ever try to come to in illegally,” she said. “This is an attack on our Constitution, the laws Congress enacted, and our national sovereignty. We expect to be vindicated on appeal.”
The legal battle, which began in February, involved 13 anonymous asylum seekers and three immigration nonprofits suing the Trump administration. The administration had agreed to not deport any of the 13 people as the litigation progressed, but Wednesday’s ruling now covers anyone in the U.S. affected by the ban.
The American Civil Liberties Union, representing the plaintiffs, said Moss’s ruling on Wednesday was a significant step forward in immigration advocates’ fight against Trump’s agenda.
“This is a hugely important decision. Not only will it save the lives of families fleeing grave danger, it reaffirms that the president cannot ignore the laws Congress has passed and the most basic premise of our country’s separation of powers,” ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, who argued the merits of the case, said in a statement.
Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser, was quick to express frustration with the ruling on social media.
“To try to circumvent the Supreme Court ruling on nationwide injunctions a marxist judge has declared that all potential FUTURE illegal aliens on foreign soil (eg a large portion of planet earth) are part of a protected global “class” entitled to admission into the United States,” Miller posted Wednesday on X.
“The West will not survive if our sovereignty is not restored,” Miller followed up.
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Amelia Benavides-Colón is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.