AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Biden administration from ending a Trump-era policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court.U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas stayed the termination until legal challenges by Texas and Missouri are settled but didn’t order the policy reinstated. The impact on the program wasn’t immediately clear.
"It’s a common sense policy to prevent people from entering our country illegally," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted after the ruling. "Texas wins again, for now."
The decision comes as El Paso, Texas, and other border cities face a daily influx of migrants that could grow larger if separate asylum restrictions enacted under President Donald Trump end next week as scheduled.
Thursday’s ruling could prove to be a temporary setback for the Biden administration, which may appeal.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that it disagreed with the ruling and was considering its next steps. It said the government was well within its authority to end the policy.
Under Trump, about 70,000 asylum-seekers were forced to wait in Mexico for U.S. hearings under the policy introduced in January 2019. President Joe Biden — who said it "goes against everything we stand for as a nation of immigrants" — suspended the policy on his first day in office.
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