East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v Biden, No. 23-16032 (9th Cir. 2024)
What was at stake
Executive limits on asylum eligibility; APA challenges; statutory consistency
What happened
Plaintiff organizations including East Bay Sanctuary Covenant challenged a Biden administration rule that restricted asylum eligibility for noncitizens who crossed the southern border without authorization or who failed to seek protection in a third country through which they transited before reaching the United States. The rule, issued in 2023, effectively barred asylum for individuals who did not present at an official port of entry or who transited through a third country without seeking asylum there. The plaintiff advocacy organizations argued the rule harmed their clients — asylum seekers who had fled violence and persecution and crossed the border irregularly — by rendering them categorically ineligible for asylum protection despite statutory entitlement.
What the court decided
Ongoing appellate litigation; district court enjoined rule then stayed; central vehicle to contest transit/entry restrictions.
How the court got there
The Ninth Circuit analyzed whether the administration's rule was consistent with 8 U.S.C. § 1158, which provides that any noncitizen physically present in or arriving in the United States may apply for asylum regardless of immigration status or manner of entry. The court evaluated whether the executive branch had authority under the INA to impose categorical bars that Congress had not enacted, applying APA arbitrary-and-capricious and contrary-to-law review. The panel's analysis centered on whether prior Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court precedent from earlier versions of similar transit and entry-bar rules foreclosed the administration's claimed rulemaking authority, particularly in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Garland v. Aleman Gonzalez and the statutory text of § 1158(b)(2).
Statutes and cases cited
- § 8 U.S.C. § 1158 (Immigration and Nationality Act, asylum provisions)
- § 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(2) (mandatory asylum bars)
- § Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706
- § 8 U.S.C. § 1182(f)
- § 8 U.S.C. § 1185(a)
- East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v. Barr, 964 F.3d 832 (9th Cir. 2020)
- East Bay Sanctuary Covenant v. Trump, 932 F.3d 742 (9th Cir. 2018)
- Garland v. Aleman Gonzalez, 596 U.S. 543 (2022)
- INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
Categories
Authoritative link
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