SCOTUS Allows Trump Administration To Implement An Asylum Ban While Legal Battle Continues

September 12th, 2019

New York, NY—Yesterday, The Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to bar most asylum seekers from everywhere other than Mexico from seeking refuge in the United States, while the legal fight around this policy plays out in the courts. The Supreme Court said the administration may enforce new rules that forbid asylum applications from those who have traveled through another country on their way to the United States without being denied asylum in that country. The ruling will effectively result in a ban of most migration across the nation's southwestern border by Hondurans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans and others.

The Trump administration’s new rule reverses asylum policies and humanitarian obligations that have allowed people to seek safety in the United States for generations, irrespective of which countries they traveled through or how they arrived.

Steve Choi, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, issued the following statement in response:

“Every American should feel outraged, today. The Supreme Court upheld a cruel, racist policy that could cost the lives of thousands of vulnerable people. Instead of saving lives, we are putting children and families fleeing violence and persecution at risk. This action is a further assault on our moral values as a nation and our standing as a beacon of hope around the world. We will continue to fight this and every other inhumane policy this administration throws our way in the streets, in the courts and in the halls of Congress.”