Immigrant Advocates File Lawsuit Challenging Trump Asylum Shutdown
On February 3, 2025, immigrant advocacy groups filed a major federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's use of a proclamation titled "Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion" to justify the summary expulsion of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. RAICES, alongside the ACLU and other partners, argues that the administration is executing an illegal power grab by using Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to override congressional mandates and international treaties that protect the legal right to seek asylum. RAICES and fellow litigants contend that labeling migration an "invasion" is a pretext to bypass due process, potentially exposing vulnerable families and children to persecution and death. The lawsuit seeks to have the court declare the executive order unlawful and block federal officials from continuing the asylum shutdown, which advocates claim dismantles decades of humanitarian protection.
