Court rules against turn backs of asylum seekers

On September 2nd, a federal judge ruled that the U.S. government’s practice of turning away asylum seekers at ports of entry is unconstitutional. This ruling indicates that the U.S. is required by law to inspect and process asylum seekers when they present themselves at ports of entry and condemns the practice of metering, which denies migrants access to the asylum process.

Our Program, along with the Boston University School of Law Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Program and the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, submitted an amicus brief in this case in October 2020. In our brief, we argued that U.S.’s illegal metering practices at the southern border contravene international law under the Alien Tort Statute. We would like to extend our thanks to former Albert M. Sacks Clinical Teaching and Advocacy Fellow Zachary Albun and Immigration and Refugee Advocacy Clinic students Stephanie Powers ’22 and Jason Golfinos ’22 for their work on the brief.