Biden admin sees first lawsuit after asylum executive order

President Joe Biden's administration was sued Wednesday, over his recent executive actions related to illegal immigration, by a coalition of immigrant advocacy groups that includes the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The lawsuit is in response to Biden's executive order that he issued last week, which bars illegal immigrants from receiving asylum when there are high levels of encounters at the southern border. 

An attorney for the ACLU claimed they were forced to act after the Biden administration invoked the same legal authority former President Donald Trump used for his asylum ban. The authority comes from a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows a president to limit entries to the country if a migrant's entry is deemed “detrimental” to the national interest, per the Associated Press.

“By enacting an asylum ban that is legally indistinguishable from the Trump ban we successfully blocked, we were left with no choice but to file this lawsuit,” Lee Gelernt, an ACLU attorney, said.

If Biden's new orders stand, it would only allow 2,500 people to cross into the country for asylum per day. If crossings rise above this number, the executive action would then go into effect immediately, and remain in place until two weeks after crossings drop down to 1,500 each day.

Biden has defended his executive order against critics who blast him for invoking the same authority as Trump, by claiming that his include several exemptions for humanitarian reasons, like unaccompanied minors and asylum seekers in need of emergency help.

Illegal immigrants who enter the country without going through one of the regular ports of entry could face a five-year ban on seeking asylum, or legal action, under the new order.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.