press@ccrjustice.org
Judge Denies Government’s Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit Brought on Behalf of Asylum Seekers
July 30, 2019, Los Angeles – A
federal district court has rejected the government’s second attempt to
dismiss a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's unlawful
turnbacks of asylum seekers who present themselves at ports of entry
along the U.S.-Mexico border – including its attempt to choke off asylum
applications through a so-called “metering” process.
"We
have seen the tragic human consequences of the Turnback Policy on
thousands of vulnerable people who, after making a long, harrowing
journey to escape their persecutors, face bullying and rejection by
Customs and Border Protection officers who simply tell them to turn
around and wait in very dangerous conditions,” said Erika Pinheiro,
litigation and policy director of plaintiff Al Otro Lado, an immigration
legal services provider with offices in Mexico and California. “We are
grateful that the court recognized that the administration cannot evade
its legal obligations by denying access to the asylum process."
“This
is an important ruling in our fight against CBP turnbacks of asylum
seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border through metering and other tactics,
said Melissa Crow, senior supervising attorney with the Southern Poverty
Law Center’s (SPLC’s) Immigrant Justice Project. “This policy was one
of the first of many implemented by this administration in the course of
its ongoing war on asylum seekers. It is also a serious setback to the
government’s efforts to undermine and evade our country’s domestic and
international legal obligations, all while demonizing asylum seekers in
the public’s eye.”
The lawsuit, AOL v. McAleenan, challenges the government’s efforts to impede access to the asylum process at the U.S. southern border.
"This
decision powerfully affirms the force and scope of this nation's
binding commitment to the principles of asylum and due process and
resoundingly rejects this significant part of the administration's
multi-faceted attack on asylum seekers -- and our law," said Baher Azmy, Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
The
U.S. government is legally obligated to protect individuals who qualify
as asylum seekers. However, the Trump administration is doing
everything it can to sidestep these obligations, strip the most
vulnerable populations of their rights, and convince the American public
via a campaign of misinformation that they lack capacity to process
asylum seekers at the southern border.
In May,
attorneys representing the SPLC and Center for Constitutional Rights
argued against the government’s motion to dismiss. The SPLC, Center for
Constitutional Rights, and the American Immigration Council filed the
lawsuit, Al Otro Lado v. McAleenan, No.
3:17-cv-02366 (S.D. Cal.), in July 2017 on behalf of individual asylum
seekers and Al Otro Lado. In November 2018, the organizations added
additional individual plaintiffs who had been subjected to the
administration’s metering process.
The ruling can be seen here. For more information, visit the Center for Constitutional Rights’ case page.
###
About the Center for Constitutional Rights
The
Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to
fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and
strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for Constitutional
Rights has taken on oppressive systems of power, including structural
racism, gender oppression, economic inequity, and governmental
overreach. Learn more at ccrjustice.org.
The
Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to
fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and
strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for Constitutional
Rights has taken on oppressive systems
of power, including structural racism, gender oppression, economic
inequity, and governmental overreach. Learn more at ccrjustice.org.
Follow the Center for Constitutional Rights on social media: Center for Constitutional Rights on Facebook, @theCCR on Twitter, and ccrjustice on Instagram.
About the SPLC
The
Southern Poverty Law Center, based in Alabama with offices in Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit
civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to
seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society. For more
information, visit www.splcenter.org.
About the Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative
The SPLC represents immigrants facing deportation in five different detention centers. Learn more about the SPLC's Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative.
About the American Immigration Council
The American Immigration Council
works to strengthen America by shaping how America thinks about and
acts towards immigrants and immigration and by working toward a more
fair and just immigration system that opens its doors to those in need
of protection and unleashes the energy and skills that immigrants bring.
The Council brings together problem solvers and employs four
coordinated approaches to advance change—litigation, research,
legislative and administrative advocacy, and communications. Follow the
latest Council news and information on ImmigrationImpact.com and Twitter @immcouncil.
The Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and strategic communications. Since 1966, the Center for Constitutional Rights has taken on oppressive systems of power, including structural racism, gender oppression, economic inequity, and governmental overreach. Learn more at ccrjustice.org.
