Hearing in asylum law challenge set for next week

WASHINGTON – A federal judge set a hearing for Monday to determine whether to temporarily halt the Trump administration’s latest immigration policy change denying asylum to anyone caught crossing the border illegally.

President Donald Trump issued a proclamation late last week. The regulations circumvent immigration law that states anyone who arrives to the U.S. can ask for asylum regardless of how they arrived.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a challenge in California arguing the rules were illegal. The lawsuit also asks that a judge put the changes on hold while the litigation progresses. The changes went into effect Saturday and apply to anyone at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The hearing will be in San Francisco.

The administration says about 70,000 people a year who cross illegally ask for asylum.