A US federal appeals court ruled on Friday that President Donald Trump cannot prevent migrants from seeking asylum at the border.
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a lower court ruling that Trump exceeded his legal authority by banning migrants who have illegally crossed the US-Mexico border from making asylum claims.
“Congress did not intend to grant the Executive the expansive removal authority it asserts,” the judges said.
“Congress enacted the asylum statute… to grant all foreign individuals ‘physically present’ in the United States a right to apply for asylum and have their individual applications adjudicated,” they said.
“If the Government wishes to modify this carefully structured and intricate system, it must present those arguments to the only branch of government able to amend the INA (Immigration and Nationality Act): Congress.”
