Immigrant Advocacy Groups Sue Biden Administration Over New Border Policies

A group of immigrant advocacy organizations filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration on Wednesday to challenge an executive action that significantly limits asylum opportunities for migrants.

President Joe Biden's executive action, which prevents migrants who cross the southern border illegally from seeking asylum—except under certain limited conditions—is his most strict policy on the U.S.-Mexico border to date.

Immediately after the measure was announced last week, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) indicated it would take legal action. True to its word, the ACLU and others filed the lawsuit in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, CNN reported.

The plaintiffs include two Texas-based organizations that work with immigrants: Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES).

The lawsuit argues that the new rules contravene U.S. immigration law and the Administrative Procedure Act, which outlines the procedural requirements that agencies must follow when implementing certain policies.

"By enacting an asylum ban that is legally indistinguishable from the Trump ban we successfully blocked, we were left with no choice but to file this lawsuit," said Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the ACLU, who also led the challenge to the Trump asylum ban.

"This law will not deter desperate families from seeking refuge here. It is ill advised and will put lives at risk," he added.

It also challenges several aspects of the new asylum restrictions. The suit says the new rules violate U.S. law, which allows migrants to apply for asylum "whether or not" they enter at a designated port of entry.

The complaint, at this stage, does not seek emergency relief.

The new order restricts asylum processing once the number of daily encounters with migrants between ports of entry exceeds 2,500. The regulations took immediate effect due to the current figures surpassing this threshold, with approximately 4,000 daily encounters being reported.

The restrictions will remain until the seven-day average of daily encounters drops to or below 1,500 per day for two consecutive weeks. However, reaching this lower threshold may take time; the last instance of such low numbers was in July 2020, during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Effective as of June 5, Biden administration officials have anticipated record levels of deportations in response to the new measures.

In defense of the order, White House spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández said the action became necessary after congressional Republicans blocked a bipartisan agreement. This agreement, according to Hernández, would have delivered essential resources, statutory changes, and additional border personnel.