US: ACLU Sues Trump Government Over Asylum Ban

On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s new asylum ban which is targeting the Central American migrant caravan.

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“Neither the president nor his cabinet can override the clear commands of our law, but that’s exactly what they’re trying to do. We’ll see him in court,” stated the ACLU.

In response, a spokesman for the administration indicated the president had acted with “clear legal authority,” and criticized the group for allegedly defending the rights of people trying to enter the United States illegally, according to USA Today.

The illegality of Trump’s ban was also contested by the Justice and Homeland Security Departments. “The president has the right to suspend the entry of aliens if he determines it to be in the national interest – and that is what President Trump has done.”

In context, Trump signed a proclamation which denies asylum to immigrants entering the country irregularly. This was a move to directly target the migrant caravan with Central Americans headed for the U.S.-Mexico border.

Concerning the laws already in place to regulate asylum-seeking in the United States, the president stated that “the laws are obsolete, and they're incompetent,” adding “they are the worst laws any country has anywhere in the world, and it's only because we don't have the Democrats' votes.”

Trump’s view on asylum regulation as a “loophole” on immigration law, is disregarded by Amnesty International: “it [asylum] is a lifeline.” The issue of contesting the port of entry of asylum-seekers is entirely at Trump’s behest. “This policy needlessly places the lives of thousands of people in danger. U.S. law states that any individual can seek asylum, whether or not they are at an official point of entry,” said Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty’s secretary general.