Trump Sued Over Executive Order Targeting Asylum Protections

President Donald Trump is violating federal law and the US Constitution by targeting US-based asylum seekers with deportation, immigrant rights groups said in a federal lawsuit filed Monday.

The advocates say Trump’s “Guaranteeing The States Protection Against Invasion” executive order unlawfully strips the federal laws of their protections for asylum seekers, according to their complaint in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. They said the president’s move violates multiple federal laws, such as the Immigration and Nationality Act, Administrative Procedures Act, and Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act, and the US Constitution’s separation of powers.

“The Proclamation is as unlawful as it is unprecedented,” the plaintiffs said.

Trump’s executive order, which he signed Jan. 20., declared an “invasion” at the US’s southern border and ordered the suspension of all unlawful entry into the country, according to the order. Undocumented migrants “engaged in the invasion” on and after the date of the order are also unable to invoke asylum-seeking protections under the INA and must be removed, repatriated or repelled.

The litigation comes on the heels of the president’s litany of immigration reform efforts, which includes increased immigration raids, efforts to end birthright citizenship, restoring the “Remain in Mexico” policy, and pausing funding of legal services to undocumented immigrants. A district court temporarily blocked the president’s birthright citizenship order and various other advocacy groups have sued to halt his related actions.

In the newly-filed suit, Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, and Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project are seeking an injunction to stop the invasion-related order from taking further effect. The plaintiff groups are nonprofit legal services that assist undocumented and detained immigrants with obtaining asylum and statutory protections.

‘Sweep Away at Whim’

The plaintiffs said that asylum seekers are being denied protections codified into law by the US Congress under the INA, the withholding of removal statute, and FARRA, according to the complaint. They pointed out that the executive order would allow Trump to “unilaterally override” congress, violating the constitution.

“If the proclamation may lawfully abrogate the statutory protections at issue here, then every future president may sweep away at whim the protections that Congress provided in the INA,” the plaintiffs said.

The groups allege that the order will impede their core work and activities and possibly result in a loss of funding, likely leading to harm.

The US Department of Homeland Security, US Customs and Border Protection, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Border Patrol, the State Department, the Justice Department, and various agency leaders were named as co-defendants, according to the complaint.

The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Immigrants’ Rights Project, Jenner & Block LLP, National Immigrant Justice Center, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of the District of Columbia, ACLU Foundation of Texas, and Texas Civil Rights Project represent the plaintiffs.

The case is Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, D.D.C., No. 1:25-cv-00306, complaint 2/3/25.