Washington, : A court ruled that the administration of US President Donald Trump could continue its policy of returning asylum seekers to Mexico while they were waiting for an immigration court to make a decision in their cases.
Under this policy, formally titled Migrant Protection Protocol and also known as the “Remain in Mexico” plan, migrants should wait in Mexico until their asylum proceedings are over in the United States. In April, a court in California blocked the policy, and the administration appealed the decision, with Trump saying that the court ruling was “unfair to the United States.”
“The public interest favors the “efficient administration of the immigration laws at the border” … The motion for a stay pending appeal is GRANTED,” the ruling of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit read.
The court thus reversed the April ruling of the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
This was an unexpected decision, since this appeals court has repeatedly blocked administration’s attempts to tighten migration rules, sparking criticism by Trump.
A lower court in San Francisco should now consider the case, and it is expected to end up in the Supreme Court of the United States, which will make the final ruling.
Trump’s administration has been making efforts to stop illegal migration into the United States and even threatening to close the southern border with Mexico, via which migrants are trying to pass into the United States.
(UNI)
