ACLU SUES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER ASYLUM BAN
"The government is doing just what Congress by statute decreed that the United States must not do," the lawsuit reads. "It is returning asylum seekers—not just single adults, but families too—to countries where they face persecution or torture, without allowing them to invoke the protections Congress has provided."
The three main plaintiffs are Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, and Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project.
"This is an unprecedented power grab that will put countless lives in danger," Lee Gelernt, the deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project, said in an email. "No president has the authority to unilaterally override the protections Congress has afforded those fleeing danger."
Gelernt said in an email that Trump's move was not only illegal but "at odds with America's sacred post WWII commitment to provide refuge for those fleeing persecution."
Kristi Noem, the new Homeland Security secretary, as well as President Trump, and other members of his cabinet are named as defendants.
