ACLU Supporter –

For the past week now, activists in our ACLU community have been taking action to protect asylum seekers in Texas from the state's utterly inhumane and life-threatening policies.

And because community members like you have been alongside us in this fight, we wanted to provide you with recent progress we made for people seeking asylum nationwide, not just in Texas.

This time the news comes from our lawyers: On Tuesday, a federal court ruled that the Biden administration's new asylum ban is illegal, in a lawsuit against the government brought by the ACLU and co-counsel.

We filed this case swiftly in May, when the administration introduced the ban, which prevents most people at the U.S. border from even being considered for asylum. The asylum ban largely mimics two Trump-era policies that were blocked by the courts, and we argued successfully in court that this newest ban is also illegal.

ACLU Supporter, this ruling is a victory – and we are grateful we can provide you with this update. But the government is employing every move in the playbook to try to prevent the ruling from taking effect. And each day the Biden administration prolongs the fight over its illegal ban, many people fleeing persecution and seeking safe harbor for their families are instead left in grave danger.

The promise of America is to serve as a beacon of freedom and hope, and the administration can and should do better to fulfill this promise, rather than perpetuate cruel and ineffective policies that betray it.

That is why the ACLU has been fighting to protect people's right to asylum for decades, and we are not stopping now. Thank you for believing in this important work and for your support in making it happen.

More soon,

Katrina Eiland
Pronouns: She, her, hers
Deputy Director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project