Congress

Judge Lets Asylum-Seekers Lawsuit Continue Against Trump Administration

The class-action lawsuit was filed by Al Otro Lado, an organization that provides legal services to migrants, and 13 individual asylum-seekers in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of California

A federal judge rejected the Trump administration’s second attempt to dismiss a lawsuit that challenges turning back asylum-seekers who present themselves at ports of entry along the southern border, NBC News reports.

U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant ruled against the government’s motion to dismiss part of a second amended complaint in the lawsuit, according to court documents released Monday.

“Turning back prospective asylum applicants pursuant to an alleged executive policy that seeks to deter asylum seekers through false assertions of lack of capacity is plausibly inconsistent with and violative of the scheme Congress enacted,” Bashant wrote in the 84-page order.

Among the tactics being targeted by the lawsuit is the use of “metering,” or limiting the number of migrants who can enter at a port of entry per day.

The Department of Justice declined comment. The government has until August 16 to respond to the second amended complaint, according to court documents.

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