A US federal appeals court has ruled that the Trump administration cannot prevent migrants from seeking asylum at the border.
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a lower court ruling that the Trump administration exceeded its legal authority by banning migrants who crossed the US-Mexico border from making asylum claims.
"Congress did not intend to grant the Executive the expansive removal authority it asserts," the judges said.
"Congress enacted the asylum statute... to grant all foreign individuals 'physically present' in the United States a right to apply for asylum and have their individual applications adjudicated," they said.
"If the Government wishes to modify this carefully structured and intricate system, it must present those arguments to the only branch of government able to amend the INA (Immigration and Nationality Act): Congress."
District Judge Randolph Moss had ruled last year, in a case brought by immigrant rights groups and asylum seekers, that Trump's proclamation barring asylum requests was a violation of the INA.
Lee Gelernt, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said in a statement that the appellate ruling was “essential for those fleeing danger who have been denied even a hearing to present asylum claims under the Trump administration’s unlawful and inhumane executive order”.
US has already reduced the maximum validity period for work permits issued to refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants, cutting the authorisation to 18 months from five years as part of its escalating immigration clampdown.
The move marks one of the most significant administrative changes to the work authorisation system in years.
