Trump Admin Hit With Second Lawsuit Over Alleged Restrictions on Asylum Access

The lawsuit alleges a presidential proclamation issued in January effectively rendered it impossible to seek asylum at ports of entry to the United States.

Immigrants cross into the United States from Mexico to be processed by Border Patrol agents in El Paso, Texas, on May 8, 2023. John Moore/Getty Images

Immigrant advocacy groups filed a class action civil lawsuit on June 11 over the Trump administration’s use of a proclamation they say effectively blocked access to asylum at U.S. ports of entry.

The lawsuit was filed in a Southern California federal court by the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS), the American Immigration Council, Democracy Forward, and the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of asylum seekers they say are fleeing persecution and torture in their home countries.