The US Supreme Court allowed enforcement of a policy that would deny asylum to Central American migrants who pass through another country en route to the US and fail to make a claim for protection there. US District Judge Jon Tigar blocked the new rule in July by issuing a nationwide injunction. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals later scaled back the order so that it only pertained to Ninth Circuit states, which include California and Arizona. In response to Judge Tigar’s attempt to return his order to its original scope, the Trump administration requested a stay on the injunction. The Supreme Court’s decision to grant the stay authorizes the administration to proceed with nationwide implementation of the policy even though it is still being challenged in the lower courts. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled against the Trump administration’s ban on asylum requests for people who illegally cross the border. The administration issued the rule in late 2018, prohibiting migrants from applying for asylum except at legal ports of entry. The plaintiffs sought summary judgment to have this rule declared illegal under the Immigration & Nationality Act. Judge Randolph Moss agreed, writing: “[A]liens have a statutory right to seek asylum regardless of whether they enter the United States at a designated port of entry, and defendants may not extinguish that statutory right by regulation or proclamation.” (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)