SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld sweeping asylum restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 but restored protections to keep migrant families from being expelled to their home countries without a chance to plead their cases.
Almost simultaneously, a federal judge in another case ruled Friday that unaccompanied children are wrongly exempted from the restrictions.
The conflicting decisions inject legal uncertainty into the future of rules that deny migrants a chance to seek asylum on grounds that it risks spreading COVID-19.
Authorities have expelled migrants more than 1.6 million times at the Mexican border without a chance to seek humanitarian protection.
