The Supreme Court Allows Trump Administration To Refuse Asylum To Central Americans

The Supreme Court has passed Donald Trump’s new policy which denies asylum to Central American migrants who have not sought refuge in other countries.

In December of 2018, the Supreme Court refused to let the administration fully deny asylum at locations other than official ports of entry, USA Today reports. But now, Central Americans won’t be able to seek refuge in the United States if they haven’t tried with other nations, according to Trump’s new policy that the Supreme Court passed this Wednesday. The rule restricts access to the U.S. asylum system for non-Mexican migrants who traveled through Mexico and other countries to reach the southwestern border — but did not seek protection in those nations, CBS News reports.

Associate Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor were not pleased with the move. “The rule the government promulgated topples decades of settled asylum practices and affects some of the most vulnerable people in the Western Hemisphere – without affording the public a chance to weigh in,” Sotomayor wrote. The policy was delayed in July by a U.S. district judge and was seen as being the biggest ban even compared to the first one by the American Civil Liberties Union. It is not likely that Central Americans will receive refuge in Mexico or anywhere else during their travel to the southern border, reports say.

Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, cautioned that the high court’s order was “just a temporary step.” “We’re hopeful we’ll prevail at the end of the day,” Gelernt said. “The lives of thousands of families are at stake.”