Asylum seeking in the United States has been suspended under an executive order signed by President Trump this week.

The Republican move to indefinitely suspend asylum is unprecedented and will likely be challenged in court. Asylum becomes part of U.S. law Since 1980allowing those who fear for their safety to seek asylum in the United States as long as they can prove A real fear of persecution in the home country.

in a Overview "By exercising his authority, President Trump has further restricted the use of immigration law provisions that would allow any illegal alien involved in an incursion at the United States' southern border to remain in the United States," a White House release said Wednesday. In the United States, for example, asylum. "

Presidents from both parties have tried to make it more difficult to seek asylum in the past, but no other president has taken Trump's action to suspend asylum altogether.

Trump's order It is part of a sweeping series of actions he has signed since taking office this week to limit legal and illegal immigration to the United States. Trump suddenly shut up A mobile app used by asylum seekers waiting in Mexico to schedule appointments with U.S. immigration officials.

The government shutdown effectively means that asylum seekers cannot get appointments.

Trump said in an announcement on Monday that his border restrictions would be loosened after he determines "intrusions at the southern border have ceased," but it's unclear how that decision will be made.

trump card win re-election Largely because of his promises to crack down on illegal immigration, border security and deport the country's millions of immigrants without legal status, including those who have committed no crimes.

This isn't the first time Trump has tried to exploit his power End asylum.

During his first administration, Trump banned immigrants from making asylum claims between ports of entry and barred those who passed through another port of entry from applying for asylum.

This time his executive order relies on a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows for the suspension of immigration following a declared invasion of the U.S. southern border.

ACLU calls suspension 'unprecedented'

Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Immigrant Rights Project, told NPR that Trump's actions "mean that no one will ever be allowed to apply for asylum in the United States anymore."

"This is unprecedented, this is a blanket ban on all asylums," Gelernt said. "This goes far beyond anything President Trump has tried in the past."

He declined to say whether the American Civil Liberties Union would sue Trump.

Erora Mukherjee, director of Columbia Law School's Immigrant Rights Clinic, also called Trump's actions to end asylum "blatantly illegal and unconstitutional," adding that Trump cannot end asylum with the stroke of a pen.

"The president cannot unilaterally revoke laws passed by Congress, nor can he unilaterally change international treaties to which the United States is a party," Mukherjee said.

She also questioned Trump's claims of an invasion at the southern border, which the White House used as justification for suspending the entry of all asylum seekers.

Unauthorized border crossings under Biden record high December 2023. In December of that year alone, the Border Patrol arrested nearly 250,000 people.

However, Data comes from U.S. Customs and Border Protection It shows the number of unauthorized border crossings has dropped sharply compared to the COVID-19 period. This change can be partly attributed to Biden's asylum restrictions At the border, it directs people to file petitions at ports of entry.

Mukherjee said Trump's actions sent a message that the United States "is no longer a beacon of freedom, hope, protection of refugees and asylum seekers."