The American Civil Liberties Union and other immigration advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against the current administration on Monday over President Donald Trump’s move to suspend asylum after claiming there is an “invasion” on the U.S.- Mexico border.
According to the complaint, Trump invoked an authority known as 212(f), which authorizes the president to “suspend the entry of all noncitizens” when their entry “would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.”
However, the groups argue the authority does not empower the president to “summarily expel noncitizens already physically present in the U.S.” or “override the protections Congress has afforded those fleeing danger.”
"Under the proclamation, there is no longer any pathway to seek asylum,” said Lee Gelernt, ACLU lead counsel, in a statement. “The President is giving the back of his hand to Congress, who over the past four plus decades has meticulously created an asylum system for those fleeing grave danger. There is no invasion, much less one that justifies wiping away the entire asylum system.”
The groups also argued the move by Trump allows for the expedited removal of unaccompanied migrant children, despite “specific protections such children receive by statute."
“This is an unprecedented power grab that will put countless lives in danger,” Gelernt's statement said.
-ABC News' Laura Romero and Armando Tonatiuh Torres-García