The administration has responded to a federal judge’s order on Wednesday blocking an executive order issued by President Donald Trump earlier this year that barred Mexican citizens from claiming asylum after illegally crossing into the U.S.
Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security advisor, issued a sharp condemnation Wednesday of the ruling that declared Trump’s suspension of asylum access at the southwest border unlawful.
The nationwide injunction comes a few weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court said that lower courts in most cases do not have the authority to issue them and must instead limit rulings to only the parties involved and the districts that they oversee.
“To try to circumvent the Supreme Court ruling on nationwide injunctions a marxist judge has declared that all potential FUTURE illegal aliens on foreign soil (eg a large portion of planet earth) are part of a protected global ‘class’ entitled to admission into the United States,” Miller wrote on X.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss, an Obama appointee, put the ruling on hold for two weeks to give the government time to appeal, Newsweek reported.
In his ruling, Moss claimed that nothing in the Constitution or immigration law allowed the federal government, including Trump, to “adopt an alternative immigration system.”
Miller has consistently expressed that lower-court judges should not dictate White House policy, echoing President Trump’s characterization of some judges as activists and Marxists when their rulings have blocked nationwide policies, including immigration measures.
Trump viewed last week’s Supreme Court decision as a major victory, potentially clearing the way to implement many of his second-term policies that had been stalled by legal challenges. Several legal experts, both on the left and right, agreed that it was a huge legal victory for the Executive Branch in general, not just Trump.
Wednesday’s ruling in the District of Columbia targets Trump’s day-one asylum ban, which effectively closed a pathway into the U.S. for asylum seekers.
The proclamation, titled “Guaranteeing the States’ Protection Against Invasion,” relied on Supreme Court decisions affirming that defending the nation’s sovereignty is the responsibility of the executive branch, not Congress.
Trump announced he was halting asylum applications at the U.S.-Mexico border due to “public safety and national security risks,” effective until further notice.
The ban immediately affected those seeking entry at the southwest border, leading to the discontinuation of the Biden-era CBP One app, which had been used to schedule appointments.
Agents were instructed to process only individuals with valid visas or legal status, while the “Remain in Mexico” policy was enforced to keep immigrants outside U.S. territory. Immigrant advocacy groups sued over the ban, arguing it endangered asylum seekers, Newsweek noted further.
Arrests at the southwest border had already declined sharply after Mexican authorities ramped up enforcement within their own borders in December 2023, and again following President Joe Biden’s introduction of strict asylum restrictions in June 2024.
Trump and his supporters argue that the asylum system is being exploited, drawing individuals who know their claims will take years to process in the country’s backlogged immigration courts, during which they can live and work in the U.S.
Supporters, however, contend that the right to seek asylum is protected by U.S. law and international agreements—even for those who cross the border illegally. They emphasize that asylum is a critical safeguard for individuals fleeing persecution, a protection established by Congress that even the president cannot override.
To qualify for asylum, applicants must demonstrate a credible fear of persecution based on specific grounds such as race, religion, nationality, or membership in a particular social or political group.
The ban likely contributed significantly to the sharp decline in illegal border crossings starting in February, the outlet reported.