A divided U.S. appeals court refused to allow the Trump administration to enforce a ban on asylum for any immigrants who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border, reports the Associated Press. The ban is inconsistent with an existing U.S. law and an attempted end-run around Congress, said a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel in a 2-1 decision. “Just as we may not, as we are often reminded, ‘legislate from the bench,’ neither may the Executive legislate from the Oval Office,” said Judge Jay Bybee, an appointee of President George W. Bush.
At issue is President Trump’s Nov. 9 proclamation that barred anyone who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border between official ports of entry from seeking asylum. Trump issued the order in response to caravans of migrants approaching the border. A lower court judge temporarily blocked the ban, and the administration appealed for an immediate stay of Judge Jon Tigar’s Nov. 19 temporary restraining order. In a dissent, Judge Edward Leavy said the administration “adopted legal methods to cope with the current problems rampant at the southern border.” Nothing in the law the majority cited prevented a rule categorically barring eligibility for asylum on the basis of how a person entered the country, said Leavy, a nominee of President Ronald Reagan.