Late Tuesday night, A federal judge in Washington, D.C. struck down a Trump administration rule that required migrants seeking to enter the U.S. to first seek asylum in countries they travel through on their way to the southern border. The policy is aimed at blocking Central American migration by requiring asylum seekers from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and elsewhere to first apply for asylum in the countries they pass through on the way to the United States, particularly Mexico or Guatemala.
Judge Timothy J. Kelly of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia said that the Trump administration illegally put in effect the rule by not allowing the public to weigh in. The decision marked a defeat for the government, which had argued that advance notice of the third-country requirement would trigger a surge of applicants seeking to evade the rule before it took effect, a claim Judge Kelly did not accept.
This decision is a yet another recent victory for the immigration community and advocates and upholds asylum law as it stands.
