5/7/2019

COURTS/DHS/IMMIGRATION/MEXICO/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A federal appeals court is allowing the Trump administration to continue returning some asylum seekers to Mexico for the duration of their immigration hearings, for now. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the administration can enforce the policy informally known as ‘Remain in Mexico’ pending appeal. The judges, though split on some issues, list a number of factors that went into the decision, including risk of injury in Mexico and negotiations between the US and Mexico…During oral arguments in late April, the three-judge panel — made up of two judges appointed by Democratic presidents and one appointed by a Republican — grappled with whether the policy should be allowed to continue, diving into technical matters and raising concerns about the process itself without providing much indication about where they stood on the policy overall. Judge Paul J. Watford, who had expressed skepticism about the process, relayed those concerns again in his concurring opinion. ‘In my view, DHS has adopted procedures so ill-suited to achieving that stated goal as to render them arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act,’ he writes, citing the fact that asylum seekers are not asked whether they fear returning to Mexico unless they bring it up themselves.”

Priscilla Alvarez, “Appeals court allows Trump’s policy of returning some asylum seekers to Mexico to continue for now,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, May 7, 2019 10:34 pm