IMMIGRATION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL/MEXICO/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A coalition of immigrant advocacy groups is asking a federal judge for a restraining order that would block the Trump administration from forcing asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their cases make their way through US immigration courts. In a motion filed Wednesday [2-20-19], advocates argued that the administration’s new policy — which officials started rolling out in Tijuana last month — causes irreparable harm and places vulnerable asylum seekers’ lives at risk. Asylum seekers, the organizations said in court documents, ‘are being returned to Mexico without any meaningful consideration of the dangers they face there, including the very real threat that Mexican authorities will return them to the countries they fled to escape persecution and torture.’ CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment. Asked to comment on Wednesday’s filing, Justice Department spokesman Steve Stafford pointed to the statement he issued in response to the lawsuit.”
–Catherine E. Shoichet and Geneva Sands, “Groups seek restraining order to block Trump asylum policy,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, February 20, 2019 12:03 am