Washington: The White House on Thursday slammed the decision of a Washington Court to bloc some of US President Donald Trump's administration's migration policies restricting conditions for granting asylum to migrants.
On Wednesday, US District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington decided to repeal the restrictions on granting asylum to victims of gang and domestic violence imposed by US President Donald Trump. In his ruling the judge, in particular, said that the regulations were contrary to law.
"Today, a court has, once again, overridden and undermined United States immigration law. Under the law, asylum is a discretionary benefit for aliens, who have a well-founded fear of persecution on account of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Today's ruling will further overwhelm our immigration courts with meritless cases, making the existing massive backlog even worse," the White House said in a statement.
According to the White House, the decision will push more migrants to illegally cross into the United States to the benefit of "ruthless smuggling organisations."The court's ruling is now though to be appealed at a court of appeal or at the US Supreme Court.
In June, then US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that domestic abuse or gang violence were not objective reasons for granting asylum.(UNI)