BREAKING NEWS: SEPTEMBER 11, 2019: U.S. SUPREME COURT ALLOWS TRUMP ASYLUM RESTRICTIONS TO TAKE EFFECT, ENDING 9TH CIRCUIT INJUNCTIONS AND MAKING IT VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR ANYONE WHO IS NOT MEXICAN TO SEEK ASYLUM AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER. THE DECISION ALLOWS THE BAN TO GO INTO EFFECT AS LEGAL CHALLENGES GO THROUGH THE LOWER COURTS.
Dissenting, Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor argued that “Trump’s asylum ban represents a radical overturning of our longstanding offer of safe refuge to the persecuted, without public input.”
“This is devastating news for asylum seekers who are fleeing horrific violence and deserve the right to request asylum under U.S. law. Contrary to what the administration claims, these asylum seekers are not safe in Guatemala or Mexico, where they are vulnerable to their persecutors and other forms of oppression,” said Michael Smith, EBSC’s Director of Refugee Rights.
Asylum seekers crossing the U.S. southern border are not only from Central America. They may be from Russia, Africa, and Asia; some have traveled through South America, the jungles of Panama and Central America, with the hopes of reaching safety.
Please join East Bay Sanctuary Covenant in speaking out against the Trump administration’s relentless attacks on the legal right to seek asylum. For updates or to make a donation: EBSC v. Barr.
September 9, 2018 – EBSC v. Barr: Judge Tigar of the U.S. district court has restored the nationwide scope of the injunction blocking trump’s asylum transit ban!
Thanks to everyone who came to the hearing last week to show support for the rule of law and protecting every person’s right to seek asylum, regardless of where they cross the border and whether they have transited through a third country or not.
Stay tuned for a decision from the Supreme Court in response to the government’s stay motion.
SEPTEMBER 5th, 2019 - THE ACLU ARGUED AGAIN IN FEDERAL COURT THIS MORNING ON BEHALF OF EBSC AND OUR CO-PLAINTIFFS TO STOP THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S RACIST AND UNLAWFUL BAN ON PEOPLE SEEKING ASYLUM IF THEY PASSED THROUGH A THIRD COUNTRY TO REACH THE U.S.
Judge Tigar will rule soon on whether the injunction he issued previously will be nationwide or will only apply to the 9 th circuit (which includes California and Arizona).
Latest hearing: Thursday, September 5th, 9:30 am - Judge Tigar heard our motion to restore the nationwide scope of the injunction.
Location:
Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, Courtroom 6, 2nd Floor.
1301 Clay Street, Oakland CA 94612
August 16, 2019 - A frustrating decision issued by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will allow the Trump administration’s policy to deny asylum eligibility to many asylum seekers – those who arrived in the U.S. after transiting through a third country -- while a final decision in the lawsuit over the policy, EBSC v. Barr, remains pending.
Under Judge Tigar's July 24th order, the preliminary injunction applied nationwide. The new order allows the preliminary injunction to remain in effect, but limits its applicability to those seeking asylum within California and Arizona.
However, the Court of Appeals remanded the case to the Northern California District Court to allow the parties an opportunity to further demonstrate whether a nationwide injunction is justified.
If the preliminary injunction remains limited, people who come to the border in New Mexico and Texas to request asylum could be detained and more quickly deported, even if they can otherwise demonstrate a likelihood of persecution in their home country upon return.
The Trump administration policy is contrary to U.S. law, which clearly states that people are entitled to request asylum regardless of how or where they entered the country, with few exceptions.
EBSC continues to fight for every person’s right to seek asylum and is appealing this decision.
July 24th, 2019 - Judge Tigar has issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration's new asylum ban.
July 24th, 2019 - Thank you to all the supporters who turned out today to pack the courtroom for the initial EBSC v. Barr hearing!
In today's hearing before the U.S. District Court Judge Tigar, EBSC's legal counsel made a clear and compelling case for why a temporary restraining order to halt the illegal asylum ban is necessary.
Judge Tigar is the same judge who ruled in EBSC's favor in EBSC v. Trump in November 2018, and the final outcome of that lawsuit is still pending.
This afternoon, Judge Tigar issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump Administration's new asylum ban.
What is next? The government is expected to appeal today's decision in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge today's ruling in an effort to reinstate the proposed rule. We are hopeful that, like the preliminary injunction in EBSC v. Trump, the 9th Circuit will uphold today's ruling.
Read the text of the injunction here.
July 16th, 2019 - The American Civil Liberties Union, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Center for Constitutional Rights have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the latest asylum ban attempt from the Trump administration. East Bay Sanctuary Covenant is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v. William Barr. The new rule would exclude any asylum seeker who transits through another country before reaching the United States from applying for asylum.