A federal judge in Oakland on

Tuesday

blocked a Biden government rule restricting migrants’ access to asylum on the southern border,

sow doubt

the future of a key policy aimed at limiting crossings.

The order of

F

Federal Judge Jon S. Tigar, who was appointed by President Obama,

blocked the policy on Tuesday. He held back his order

ineffective for two weeks. The Biden administration is expected to appeal

the order

quickly first to the US

9th

Circuit Court of Appeal then, if unsuccessful, to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The policy, which restricts access to asylum for migrants who come to the US through a third country without seeking protection, is

the middle

of the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce the monthly number of unauthorized migrants crossing the border.

Biden administration officials have said in court depositions that without the policy, border

the number of crossings would increase, putting pressure on public resources

. In June, border crossings were at their lowest level in more than two years.

Government officials have encouraged migrants to schedule appointments at a port of entry on a Customs and Border Protection app, rather than crossing the border without permission. US officials have also promoted a system that will admit migrants from Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti

,

and Nicaragua to apply for entry into the US, provided they have a financial sponsor and can pass security checks.

Tigar blocked Trump’s version of the policy in 2019. The Supreme Court later suspended the injunction.

Immigrant advocates have blasted the Biden administration’s asylum limits, labeling them nothing more than a return to policies seen during the Trump presidency.

The legal challenge was filed by the ACLU, the National Immigrant Justice Center

,

and the UC Hastings Center for Gender and Refugee Studies in May, when the policy went into effect.

After campaigning for a pledge to restore our asylum system, the Biden administration has instead doubled the asylum restrictions of its predecessors, the lawsuit viciously read. The agencies claim the rule only affects asylum seekers who bypass legal routes. But seeking asylum is a legal path that is protected by our laws regardless of how one enters the country.

Biden administration officials have said the policy is designed to discourage unauthorized migration and encourage people to seek alternatives.

As intended, the rule significantly reduced screening rates for non-citizens [Southwest border]Blas Nuez-Neto, a senior

Department of Homeland Security

official, wrote in the filing. The decrease in encounters at the US border and encroachment into the Darin Gap demonstrate that the application of the consequences of implementing the rules deters non-citizens from pursuing irregular migration and encourages them to use safe and orderly routes.

Nuez-Neto said in his statement at the end of June that there were 104,000 migrants in northern Mexico and many appeared to be waiting to see if the amplified consequences of implementing the rules are real.

Data from his file showed that the policy had significantly reduced the percentage of migrants at the southern border who entered the country and were allowed to apply for asylum.