A panel of judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California moved Friday to reinstate an injunction barring two policies that have dramatically cut migrant traffic on the U.S. southern border, but immediately froze the ruling to avoid a rush to the border of at least 25,000 migrants currently in Mexico awaiting asylum hearings, Breitbart reported.
One of the now-invalidated policies provided that individuals caught trying to cross the border illegally between ports of entry would be prevented from then applying for asylum. The other forced migrants applying for asylum to wait in Mexico until their claim could be adjudicated.
The judges voted 2-1 to reinstate the district court’s injunction against both of these policies before halting implementation of their own ruling to avoid a migrant stampede that could put border communities in danger.
Reuters reported that the freeze was to allow the Trump administration an opportunity to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
Court’s rationale
Opponents of the Trump rules have argued that at least 1,000 of the approximately 65,000 immigrants sent to wait for a hearing in Mexico have been subjected to physical attacks while there, Reuters said.
Kidnapping, rapes and assaults are among the common dangers faced in some of the border areas in Mexico, Reuters reported. Tamaulipas, for example, was compared to Yemen and Syria because of the level of violence.
Reuters also reported that a union for asylum workers filed a brief in the case that said the Remain in Mexico policy, also known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), “abandons our tradition of providing a safe haven to the persecuted.”
The Trump administration pointed out, however, that not many of the asylum claims are ultimately accepted. Allowing asylum seekers to wait in the United States for their hearings — which often do not occur until long after the initial request for protected status — often allows them them to disappear into the country’s interior, never to be heard from again.
Invalidating successful programs
The MPP program in particular has been so successful that the number of asylum seekers coming to the border has gone from 170,000 in May to just 30,000 in January, according to Breitbart.
The fact is that the United States government simply cannot bear sole responsibility for the safety and welfare of every migrant who comes to our border seeking asylum.
The policies implemented by the Trump administration have served as an effective deterrent against the torrent of illegal immigrants, but Democrats are unhappy about them because they hope that these asylum seekers and others making their way into the country illegally will one day receive amnesty and become a reliable part of their voter base.
Perhaps the only bright spot in all of this is that the president, with the help of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), has continued to transform the federal bench at an unprededented pace, seating large numbers of the conservative jurists this country needs in order to stem the tide of illegal immigration once and for all.
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