CGRS Comment on Ruling in Lawsuit Challenging Forced Return Policy

On May 8, 2019, the Ninth Circuit granted the Trump Administration’s request for a stay of the preliminary injunction issued in Innovation Law Lab v. McAleenan in April. Pending the Administration’s appeal of that injunction, the government will be allowed to continue its policy of forcibly returning asylum seekers to Mexico.

The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) brought the Innovation Law Lab lawsuit along with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center earlier this year. CGRS-Co Legal Director Blaine Bookey had this to say about the Ninth Circuit’s decision:

“The government’s policy forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico violates our domestic laws and international obligations; men, women, and children face grave risk of harm or death each day the policy is allowed to stand. Indeed, two of the three federal judges that looked at the policy questioned its legality. We remain hopeful that the courts will soon put an end to this cruel and unlawful policy once and for all.”