Rights groups sue over change in asylum policy
SAN FRANCISCO — The Trump administration’s policy of returning asylum seekers to Mexico while their cases wind through immigration courts violates U.S. law by putting the migrants in danger and depriving them of the ability to prepare their cases, a lawsuit by civil liberties groups claims.
The suit filed Thursday in federal court in San Francisco seeks a court order blocking the Department of Homeland Security from carrying out the policy that took effect in January at the San Ysidro border crossing in San Diego.
The change followed months of talks between the U.S. and Mexico and marked a shift to the U.S. asylum system that the administration and asylum experts said was unprecedented. Mexican officials have sent mixed signals on the crucial point of whether Mexico would impose limits on accepting families. The effort began at a San Diego crossing for adults only, but U.S. officials have started to include families, which currently account for nearly half of Border Patrol arrests.
“Instead of being able to focus on preparing their cases, asylum seekers forced to return to Mexico will have to focus on trying to survive,” according to the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies. “These pressures may deter even those with the strongest asylum claims to give up, rather than endure the wait under such conditions.”
Steven Stafford, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said Congress has “explicitly authorized” Homeland Security officials to return migrants to a “contiguous foreign territory” during their immigration proceedings.
“The Department of Justice will defend the Department of Homeland Security’s lawful actions in court,” he said in a statement.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said the policy is “a vital response to the crisis at our southern border.”
Border Patrol arrests, the most widely used gauge of illegal crossings, have risen sharply over the last year but are relatively low in historical terms after hitting a 46-year low in 2017. Many are Central American asylum-seeking families and children who immediately turn themselves in to agents.
The suit was filed on behalf of 11 asylum seekers from Central America, many of whom have already experienced violence in Mexico, according to the lawsuit.