A Biden administration immigration policy has been blocked by a judge who previously questioned its similarity to a Trump-era policy.
The policy is a new rule for asylum seekers put in place after the recent end of Title 42. In a break from procedures that were in place for decades, the policy severely restricted migrants from seeking asylum if they passed through other countries on the way to the United States, effectively shutting out most migrants from countries south of Mexico from requesting asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.
While President Joe Biden's immigration policies have been widely attacked by Republicans, this policy garnered significant pushback from the president's allies, in the Democratic Party and from immigration advocates. In response, administration officials stressed that the policy was "not our first preference or even our second," and added that it was up to Congress to pass better reforms.
The policy was blocked on Tuesday by Judge Jon Tigar of the California Northern District Court as part of an ongoing lawsuit brought against the Biden administration by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Tigar ruled against a similar asylum policy put forward by the administration of former President Donald Trump, and during the current case expressed concern over how little Biden's policy differed from that one.
"The Justice Department disagrees with the district court's ruling today in the East Bay case and intends to appeal the decision and to seek a stay pending appeal," an administration official said in a statement to CNN. "We remain confident in our position that the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways rule is a lawful exercise of the broad authority granted by the immigration laws."
The Justice Department has 14 days to appeal Tigar's ruling, which it is expected to do. The appeal would be considered by the Ninth Circuit Court, which ruled in Tigar's favor twice before concerning the Trump-era policy.
"The ruling is a victory, but each day the Biden administration prolongs the fight over its illegal ban, many people fleeing persecution and seeking safe harbor for their families are instead left in grave danger," Katrina Eiland, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, said in a statement to CNN. "The promise of America is to serve as a beacon of freedom and hope, and the administration can and should do better to fulfill this promise, rather than perpetuate cruel and ineffective policies that betray it."
Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow for the Center for Immigration Studies, told Newsweek that the ruling is unlikely to have much of an impact at the southern border, given how migrants are being handled there.
"I don't think this will matter much because the administration is only doing a minuscule number of asylum claims," Bensman said. "The administration is just catch-and-releasing most illegal crossers without asylum interviews."
