Judge rules border policy illegal

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge ruled that the U.S. government’s practice of denying migrants a chance to apply for asylum on the Mexican border until space opens up to process claims is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant’s ruling Thursday could prevent the government from limiting entry for asylumseekers because it says it lacks resources. It could also bring relief to some of the tens of thousands of people who put their names on unofficial waiting lists in Mexican border towns.

Bashant ordered the Justice Department and plaintiffs led by Los Anthe geles advocacy group Al Otro Lado to recommend next steps by Oct. 1.

The practice of capping how many people can claim asylum at U.S. land crossings with Mexico, known as “metering,” began in 2016 under President Barack Obama when large numbers of Haitians appeared at the main crossing to San Diego from Tijuana. It expanded across the border in 2018 under the Trump administration.

The U.S. stopped accepting all asylum-seekers at border crossings in March 2020, with few exceptions, under pandemic-related authority known as Title 42. The Trump administration first invoked the authority to prevent spread of coronavirus, and the Biden administration extended it. The judge asked both sides to explain the impact of Title 42 on her ruling.

The judge found in a 45-page ruling that the practice violated constitutional rights to due process under the law and a federal law requiring officials to screen anyone who shows up seeking asylum.

The judge backed criticisms that U.S. officials did not monitor the waiting lists, which were subject to fraud and corruption, and that asylumseekers were exposed to grave physical danger while waiting in Mexico.