"This was an Obama judge," President Donald Trump remarked in November 2018, referring to a decision temporarily blocking his restrictions on asylum applications. "And I'll tell you what, it's not going to happen like this anymore."
The ruling that irked Trump involved a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that says "any alien" may "apply for asylum" if he is "physically present in the United States" or "arrives in the United States…whether or not at a designated port of arrival." Contrary to the plain language of that statute, Trump had issued a proclamation barring asylum applications by people who cross the southern border between ports of entry. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had implemented that restriction with rules that made such aliens categorically ineligible for asylum.
