Legal Action

Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services v. Noem

Filed in: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

Summary

A coalition of immigrants’ advocacy organizations and individual asylum seekers sued the Trump-Vance administration to prevent enforcement of Proclamation 10888, titled “Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion.” The proclamation prohibits non-citizens from seeking asylum through the Immigration and Nationality Act, allowing asylum-seekers to be deported without due process and returned to countries where they may face violence and persecution. The plaintiffs argue the proclamation violates the Immigration and Nationality Act’s asylum statute, the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act, and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act by removing long-established pathways to asylum. The plaintiffs request that the court declare the proclamation unlawful and unenforceable.

Learn More About the Case

Plaintiffs

  • Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services
  • Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center
  • Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project
  • A.M.
  • Z.A.
  • T.A.
  • A.T.
  • N.S.
  • D.G.
  • B.R.
  • M.A.
  • G.A.
  • F.A.
  • K.A.
  • Y.A.
  • E.G.

Plaintiffs' Counsel

  • Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
  • ACLU Foundation of the District of Columbia
  • ACLU of Texas
  • Texas Civil Rights Project
  • American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Immigrant's Rights Project
  • National Immigrant Justice Center
  • Jenner & Block LLP

Defendants

  • Secretary Kristi Noem
  • U.S. Department of Homeland Security
  • Acting Commissioner Pete R. Flores
  • Chief Michael Banks
  • Acting Executive Assistant Commissioner Diane Sabatino
  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection
  • Acting Director Caleb Vitello
  • U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
  • Acting Director Kika Scott
  • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
  • Secretary Marco Rubio
  • U.S. Department of State
  • U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi
  • U.S. Department of Justice
  • President Donald J. Trump