US Customs and Border Protection agents look at migrants who crossed illegally into El Paso, Texas, US to turn themselves in to ask for asylum, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Sep 18, 2019. NEW YORK: The Trump administration on Wednesday faced its first legal challenge to a policy that has nearly halted the United States asylum system as well as admissions of migrants at the US border with Mexico.
A Mar 20 order by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allows agents to deport migrants apprehended at the border – including asylum seekers and unaccompanied children – without standard legal processes, arguing there is a risk they could spread the coronavirus in the US.US immigration authorities have allowed only four migrants' claims for humanitarian protection to proceed since the order was issued, US Citizenship and Immigration Services data obtained by Reuters shows.
The American Civil Liberties Union brought the lawsuit on behalf of JBBP, alleging the order violates the 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which guarantees certain immigration processes to minors, as well as the public health law it cites as justification.