A federal appeals court ruled Thursday to temporarily keep in place a Biden administration rule that restricts the flow of asylum-seekers at the southern border.
Under the policy, migrants looking to enter the US legally must either use the CBP One App to make an appointment or apply for protection in countries they travel through before seeking refuge in the states.
The rule was set to expire by Monday following a decision by a lower court that found it to be illegal.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to maintain the policy is only temporary — it will remain in place while larger court battles surrounding its legality play out.
Two of the court’s three judges granted the stay without giving a reason.
The only dissenting judge said the rule closely resembled others put forward by the Trump administration that were rejected by the same appeals court.
After a federal judge struck down the policy last week, the government — which argued the rule would play an integral role in maintaining order along the US-Mexico border — quickly appealed the decision, asking that temporarily remain in use during the court battles.
The appeals hearing is likely to kick off around mid-September.
If the measure is stuck down, it will mean anyone seeking asylum only has to set foot on US soil in order to be eligible to make a claim.
The White House has championed the policy as the reason the number of illegal crossings at the border has plummeted since May.
They were introduced during the expiration of the pandemic-era Title 42, which had allowed the government to swiftly expel migrants without letting them seek asylum.
A Post investigation found that they could be pointed to as the main contributors for keeping 104,000 migrants in northern Mexico.
The online appointments secured through the federal app often took weeks or months to get — turning Mexican border cities into waiting rooms.
Human rights groups sued, saying that the regulations put migrants’ lives at risk by leaving them waiting indefinitely in northern Mexico and that the app itself is faulty.
The Biden administration argued that the rule was only strengthening legal pathways for asylum-seekers to enter and find refuge in the US.
With Post wires
