Judge blocks Trump asylum order

A federal judge in California has temporarily barred the Trump administration from refusing asylum to migrants who illegally cross the border into the United States. In his Monday ruling, U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar, who was nominated by former President Barack Obama, said immigration law allows persons to seek asylum regardless of whether they arrived “at a designated port of arrival,” adding, “Whatever the scope of the President’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden.”

The judge’s ruling blocks a Nov. 9 proclamation from President Donald Trump saying asylum would be denied to migrants who crossed the southern border illegally. The decree was aimed at several migrant caravans making their way from Central America to the U.S. border. The proclamation faced immediate court challenges from the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups. Tigar’s ruling will remain in effect until Dec. 19 unless the Trump administration appeals.