San Francisco, Calif., Apr 9, 2019 / 11:30 am
Asylum seekers crossing the southern border may no longer have to return to Mexico while their cases are heard after a federal judge blocked the Department of Homeland Security's Migrant Protection Protocols.
Judge Richard Seeborg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled April 9 that Homeland Security's new protocols, announced in December 2018, did not adequately protect the safety of asylum applicants.
Shortly after the Migrant Protection Protocols were announced, the American Civil Liberties Union and immigration advocacy organizations filed a suit on behalf of 11 people seeking asylum in the United States from Central America.
The suit alleged that preventing the asylum seekers from staying in the United States is a violation of international law regarding humanitarian protections.