Trump has declared the crackdown on illegal immigration an absolute priority, continuing to talk about an “invasion” of the United States.
A federal judge has suspended the implementation of a proclamation signed by Donald Trump shortly after he returned to power, aimed at prohibiting people who crossed the border with Mexico illegally from applying for and being granted asylum in the United States.
The ban was included in a presidential proclamation signed on January 20, the first day of his second term, in which the situation at the country’s southern border was described as an “invasion” due to the mass movement of migrants towards American territory.
However, a federal judge in the capital ruled that “nothing in the Immigration and Nationality Act, or in the Constitution, gives the president or his representatives the excessive powers he invokes in the proclamation and in the instructions for its implementation,” as reported by the Agence France-Presse and retransmitted by the Athens News Agency.
The judge’s decision follows an appeal by 13 people who fled to escape persecution in Afghanistan, Ecuador, Cuba, Egypt, Brazil, Turkey and Peru, as well as three NGOs that defend the rights of immigrants.
Six of the applicants have already been deported under the presidential proclamation, the judge noted.
In the verdict, he noted that he “recognizes that the executive branch faces enormous challenges (in its effort) to prevent irregular entry into the United States and absorb the overwhelming volume of asylum applications” that are pending.
However, he insisted that the Immigration and Nationality Law alone defines deportation decisions and procedures.
The judge, however, gave a two-week deadline before the decision was implemented, to give the Trump administration time to appeal, while clarifying that it does not have retroactive application, it only concerns people who have not yet been deported.
Republican President Trump has declared the crackdown on illegal immigration an absolute priority, continuing to talk about an “invasion” of the US by “criminals coming from abroad” and ensuring that deportations receive ample coverage from friendly media outlets.
But his plan for mass deportations of “millions” of people is being slowed down or blocked by judicial decisions, with arguments that specifically concern the fact that the people being targeted have rights that must be respected.
