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The Latest Transit Ban Bars Migrants Seeking Asylum
When it comes to xenophobic policies, the Supreme Court backs Trump
The Supreme Court’s short but disastrous order in Barr v. East Bay Sanctuary Covenant temporarily allows the implementation of an “asylum ban,” also known as a “transit ban,” or “safe third country ban.” With few exceptions, the ban bars most migrants (many of whom are Central Americans) from entering the United States to seek asylum at the southern border.
At least until the lower federal courts resolve outstanding legal challenges, asylum seekers will be forced to find refuge in a country they pass through on their way to the United States. With Customs and Border Patrol encountering tens of thousands of migrants every month at the southern border, the effect of the ban will be staggering. When the policy is enforced, even unaccompanied asylum-seeking children will be turned away.
Seeking asylum is a legal right that people have and we know that the Supreme Court has been wrong before.
After the court’s order, the Trump administration was triumphant. In an interview, acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan characterized it as a “big victory.”
But the asylum ban flies in the face of both federal and international law, and for this reason, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar sharply rebuked the court’s order: “I believe that decision is morally and legally wrong. Seeking asylum is a legal right that people have and we know that the Supreme Court has been wrong before.” Azadeh Shahshahani, legal and advocacy director at Project South, agrees. “Lawyers will be fighting this vigorously. Hopefully it won’t [become permanent]. But given the current conservative makeup of the Supreme Court, this is definitely a real concern.”
What is particularly frustrating for immigration advocates like Shahshahani is the fact that mass migration from Central America has deep roots in U.S. foreign policy. For several decades, the United States intervened in civil wars and coups in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala (and in some cases, orchestrated them), which brought on rapid government…
