One week after President Trump announced that he would send thousands of troops to the southern border, he set forth another anti-immigrant order today, spearheaded by Stephen Miller, one of his hard-line governmental aides. Specifically, he signed an official executive proclamation today that essentially denies asylum to undocumented individuals who enter the United States via the southern border. The executive order bars all asylum claims outside of specified ports of entry.
When queried about this new executive order, former State Chairman of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Edward Shulman stated “ it is unconstitutional to rewrite US law and to overhaul long-standing international asylum principles which would disallow individuals from applying for political asylum, based solely on their points of entry. The beauty of our democracy is that we value the concept of due process. Everyone deserves to have his or her asylum request heard and it is up to the immigration adjudicators to weigh and examine the merits of a claim. The particular place where a person entered the United States is irrelevant to the determination of whether or not there is credible fear of harm or persecution if returned to their country.
Mr. Shulman also wants clients to know that the new ruling is not retroactive, which means that the order applies only to future asylum-seekers. He also noted that the executive action will likely face legal challenges in short order as many human rights organizations and advocacy groups are poised and gearing up for a fight in Federal Court.