On August 31, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. blocked a Trump administration policy that allowed border patrol agents to conduct credible fear assessments for asylum seekers, finding it likely violated federal immigration law.
Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a preliminary injunction that bars CBP agents from further conducting the interviews.
The Trump administration argued that designated CBP employees are trained comparably to asylum officers at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, another agency within the Homeland Security Department. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon in Washington disagreed.
In granting the preliminary injunction, Leon said the group had shown a likelihood of success of their claim that the use of CBP agents, who receive less training than USCIS asylum officers, violates the federal Immigration and Nationality Act.
“The training requirements cited in the government’s declaration do not come close to being ‘comparable’ to the training requirements of full asylum officers.” he said.
“These training requirements are essential for a functioning asylum process, which is why Congress required them,” the decision concluded.
