Asylum reviewers file amicus brief against policy for applicants to wait in Mexico

A union chapter representing federal employees who review asylum claims has filed an amicus brief supporting challengers who are suing the Trump administration over its new requirement that applicants wait in Mexico while their claims are processed.

Employees "should not be forced to honor departmental directives that are fundamentally contrary to the moral fabric of our nation and our international and domestic legal obligations," the leadership of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1924 argued in the brief filed by Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Richard G. Seeborg issued an injunction in April blocking the new rules, saying that non-Mexican asylum seekers could not be forced to wait in Mexico.

That decision is now on appeal before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A motions panel of the court stayed the ruling in May as the appeal goes forward. Innovation Law Lab v. McAleenan, 19-15716 (9th Cir., filed Feb. 14, 2019).

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli blasted the union's filing Thursday as a political stunt, saying its leaders were "play[ing] games" while what he described as a "crisis" at the border is getting worse.

"Lives are being lost, detention facilities are unsustainably overcrowded, and illegal aliens with frivolous claims continue to overwhelm our system," the acting director said in a press release.

-- Nicolas Sonnenburg