Judge blocks asylum screening by border protection agents
Source: Associated Press
ELLIOT SPAGAT
, Associated Press
Aug. 31, 2020
Updated: Aug. 31, 2020 3:23 p.m.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge on Monday blocked U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees from conducting the initial screening for people seeking asylum, dealing a setback to one of the Trump administration’s efforts to rein in asylum.
The nationwide injunction will likely have little, if any, immediate impact because the government has effectively suspended asylum during the coronavirus pandemic, citing public health concerns.
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.
“Poppycock!” he wrote in a 22-page decision. “The training requirements cited in the government’s declaration do not come close to being ‘comparable’ to the training requirements of full asylum officers.”
Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/article/Judge-blocks-asylum-screening-by-border-15527967.php
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