Immigrant rights groups sued President Donald Trump’s administration over a rule that restricts asylum eligibility on the same day federal officials said they’d start enforcing it.
There are exceptions to the rule. But it generally disqualifies migrants from asylum if they did not seek protection in a third country they traveled through between their home and the U.S.-Mexico border.
Immigrant rights groups argue in court documents that the rule aims to cripple — or virtually cancel — U.S. federal asylum at the border.
The groups allege the rule violates immigration law because Congress said only people who were firmly resettled in a third country can be blocked from asylum. They also allege it breaks federal law on procedure because the rule was rolled out without enough notice.
The groups want a federal judge in California to block the government from enforcing the rule and declare it illegal.
