The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday challenging the Biden administration’s new executive actions that block migrants from seeking asylum at the southern U.S. border when crossings surge. ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said President Biden’s new measures are nearly identical “from a legal standpoint” to ones that former President Trump used to try to ban migrants from seeking asylum between ports of entry, NPR reports. Gelernt said Congress has been “crystal clear” that asylum seekers can request relief “whether or not you enter at a port.” He said, .“We are challenging President Biden's executive action because it's flatly illegal and inconsistent with the asylum laws that Congress passed decades ago ... President Trump enacted a nearly identical asylum ban, and we successfully challenged that. We have no choice but to challenge this one as well.” The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two Texas advocacy groups: Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services.
The Biden administration announced the rules last week. They bar migrants from seeking asylum when they cross into the U.S. between ports of entry when border encounters rise above 2,500 per day. The restrictions can be lifted two weeks after daily numbers dip below 1,500 people. The lawsuit alleges the Biden rule violates legal procedures for agency rulemaking and adjudications because it did not justify “radical departures” from prior practices and because the public didn’t have the chance to comment before the rule took effect. However, the lawsuit did not seek an emergency injunction to block the administration from applying the new rule. Gelernt said that is an option for the future once advocates find specific migrants who have been harmed by the measure. The border has become an increasingly difficult issue for Biden, given the record number of migrants coming across the border and because polls show most Americans don’t approve of the way he has handled the challenge.