The lawsuit alleges that the president’s actions differ little from that of the Trump administration.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the Biden administration on June 12 after President Biden signed an executive order limiting the number of people applying for asylum at the southern border.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Texas-based organizations Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and RAICES, argues that President Biden’s June 4 executive order mirrors a similar action by the Trump administration that was previously blocked by the courts.
President Biden’s executive order restricts the entry of noncitizens over the southern border after an average of 2,500 or more people have crossed daily for seven consecutive days. Given the current high number of crossings, roughly 4,000 daily, the restrictions became effective on June 5. They will remain in place until two weeks after the crossings drop below 1,500 per day on a seven-day average. The last time crossings were this low was in July 2020.
This order is President Biden’s most comprehensive measure against illegal immigration since the surge in migrant crossings during his term. The lawsuit is the first test of this crackdown, which followed months of White House deliberations.
“By enacting an asylum ban that is legally indistinguishable from the Trump ban we successfully blocked, we were left with no choice but to file this lawsuit,” said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt. President Biden’s order follows some of former President Donald Trump’s immigration restrictions by citing Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows a president to limit the entry of any class of aliens into the United States when it would be detrimental to the interests of the country.
However, President Biden has argued that his order is different from his predecessor’s actions and has criticized the Trump administration’s overall immigration policies. For instance, victims of human trafficking and unaccompanied minors are not subject to the limits in Biden’s order.
The ACLU said in a June 4 post on the social platform X that it would sue the Biden administration, suggesting the order “will severely restrict people’s legal right to seek asylum, putting tens of thousands of people at risk.” The group added that they believe Biden’s order “takes the same approach as the Trump administration’s asylum ban” and a court challenge would follow. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, speaking with ABC’s Martha Raddatz on June 9, said he disagrees with the ACLU. “I anticipate they will sue us. We stand by the legality of what we have done,” he said.
Under Biden’s order, migrants who do not express fear of returning to their home countries will be removed from the United States within hours or days and could face a five-year reentry ban or criminal prosecution. Those who do express fear will be screened at a higher standard by a U.S. asylum officer. Migrants who pass this screening can apply for limited forms of protection, such as under the U.N. Convention Against Torture, which prevents the return of individuals to countries where they could face torture.
Sam Dorman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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