Lawsuit Asks Judge To Stop Part President Trump’s Immigration Suspension

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to dominate our lives and the news, including in the immigration realm.  Stuart Anderson for Forbes reports that a federal judge has been asked to issue a temporary restraining order barring implementation of President Trump’s presidential proclamation suspending immigration of most lawful permanent residents.  The emergency motion comes in a lawsuit that has blocked the Trump administration from implementing a presidential proclamation to bar new immigrants without health insurance.

The introduction to the motion reads as follows:

“The Presidential Proclamation issued on April 22, 2020, which suspends the entry of many immigrants to the United States, threatens serious harm to immigrant family members whose chance to reunite after many long years of waiting has been suddenly been curtailed.  The changes made by this Presidential Proclamation, without warning, eliminate the urgent and emergency visa adjudication services that had been available to prevent children, `inimmigration lingo,’ from `ag[ing] out.’ . . . . Urgent and emergency visa adjudication services have remained available during the COVID-19 response, but the Presidential Proclamation now cuts off access to these emergency services for individuals subject to the Proclamation’s entry suspension. Plaintiffs file this motion under the All Writs Act, see 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a), seeking a narrow band of relief to protect members of the certified class in this action. Under the All Writs Act, the Court should order Defendants to restore urgent and emergency consular processing and visa adjudication services to class member children who are in danger of losing their place in the visa queue.” (bold added).

The emergency motion for a temporary restraining order was filed on April 25 by the Justice Action Center (JAC), the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), and Innovation Law Lab, with pro bono counsel Sidley Austin LLP and Latino Network as the organizational plaintiff.

KJ