Appeals court rules that Trump's asylum ban at the border is illegal

The Associated Press.1/3

April 24, 20265:58 PM ET

WASHINGTON — An appeals court on Friday blocked President Trump's executive order suspending asylum access at the southern border of the U.S., a key pillar of the Republican president's plan to crack down on migration.

A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that immigration laws give people the right to apply for asylum at the border, and the president can't circumvent that.

The court opinion stems from action taken by Trump on Inauguration Day 2025, when he declared that the situation at the southern border constituted an invasion of America and that he was "suspending the physical entry" of migrants and their ability to seek asylum until he decides it is over.

The panel concluded that the Immigration and Nationality Act doesn't authorize the president to remove the plaintiffs under "procedures of his own making," allow him to suspend plaintiffs' right to apply for asylum or curtail procedures for adjudicating their anti-torture claims.

"The power by proclamation to temporarily suspend the entry of specified foreign individuals into the United States does not contain implicit authority to override the INA's mandatory process to summarily remove foreign individuals," wrote Judge J. Michelle Childs, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Joe Biden.

"We conclude that the INA's text, structure, and history make clear that in supplying power to suspend entry by Presidential proclamation, Congress did not intend to grant the Executive the expansive removal authority it asserts," the opinion said.

White House says asylum ban was within Trump's powers

The administration can ask the full appeals court to reconsider the ruling or go to the Supreme Court.

The order doesn't formally take effect until after the court considers any request to reconsider.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaking on Fox News, said she had not seen the ruling but called it "unsurprising," blaming politically-motivated judges.

"They are not acting as true litigators of the law. They are looking at these cases from a political lens," she said.

Leavitt said Trump was taking actions that are "completely within his powers as commander in chief."

https://www.npr.org/2026/04/24/g-s1-118707/trump-asylum-ban-us-mexico-border-illegal

>>24536173

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White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the Department of Justice would seek further review of the decision. "We are sure we will be vindicated," she wrote in an emailed statement.

The Department of Homeland Security said it strongly disagreed with the ruling.

"President Trump's top priority remains the screening and vetting of all aliens seeking to come, live, or work in the United States," DHS said in a statement.

Advocates welcome the ruling

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said that previous legal action had already paused the asylum ban, and the ruling won't change much on the ground.

The ruling, however, represents another legal defeat for a centerpiece policy of the president.

"This confirms that President Trump cannot on his own bar people from seeking asylum, that it is Congress that has mandated that asylum seekers have a right to apply for asylum and the President cannot simply invoke his authority to sustain," said Reichlin-Melnick.

Advocates say the right to request asylum is enshrined in the country's immigration law and say denying migrants that right puts people fleeing war or persecution in grave danger.

Lee Gelernt, attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, who argued the case, said in a statement that the appellate ruling is "essential for those fleeing danger who have been denied even a hearing to present asylum claims under the Trump administration's unlawful and inhumane executive order."

Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, welcomed the court decision as a victory for their clients.

"Today's DC Circuit ruling affirms that capricious actions by the President cannot supplant the rule of law in the United States," said Nicolas Palazzo, director of advocacy and legal Services at Las Americas.

Judge Justin Walker, a Trump nominee, wrote a partial dissent. He said the law gives immigrants protections against removal to countries where they would be persecuted, but the administration can issue broad denials of asylum applications.

Walker,however, agreed with the majority that the president cannot deport migrants to countries where they will be persecuted or strip them of mandatory procedures that protect against their removal.

https://www.npr.org/2026/04/24/g-s1-118707/trump-asylum-ban-us-mexico-border-illegal

>>24536176

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Judge Cornelia Pillard, who was nominated by Democratic President Obama, also heard the case.

In the executive order, Trump argued that the Immigration and Nationality Act gives presidents the authority to suspend entry of any group that they find "detrimental to the interests of the United States."

The executive order also suspended the ability of migrants to ask for asylum.

Trump's order was another blow to asylum access in the U.S., which was severely curtailed under the Biden administration, although under Biden some pathways for protections for a limited number of asylum seekers at the southern border continued.

Migrant advocate in Mexico expresses cautious hope

For Josue Martinez, a psychologist who works at a small migrant shelter in southern Mexico, the ruling marked a potential "light at the end of the tunnel" for many migrants who once hoped to seek asylum in the U.S. but ended up stuck in vulnerable conditions in Mexico.

"I hope there's something more concrete, because we've heard this kind of news before: A district judge files an appeal, there's a temporary hold, but it's only temporary and then it's over," he said.

Meanwhile, migrants from Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela and other countries have struggled to make ends meet as they try to seek refuge in Mexico's asylum system that's all but collapsed under the weight of new strains and slashed international funds.

This week hundreds of migrants, mostly stranded migrants from Haiti, left the southern Mexican city of Tapachula on foot to seek better living conditions elsewhere in Mexico.

https://www.npr.org/2026/04/24/g-s1-118707/trump-asylum-ban-us-mexico-border-illegal

LIVE

Iran’s Araghchi passes on ‘comprehensive’ response in Pakistan talks

Summary

• Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi conveyed Tehran’s "comprehensive response to proposals" during talks with Pakistan’s army chief, state media said.

• Iran’s internet blackout reached eight weeks, entering its 57th day with international connectivity largely cut, NetBlocks said on Saturday.

• Iran has reopened Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport, with the first flights departing on Saturday to Istanbul and Muscat on domestic airlines, state media reported.

• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad on Friday, according to Pakistani media. Iranian state media say no US talks are on his agenda, but CNN reports that US negotiators are heading to Islamabad for talks with him.

•Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stepped down as head of Iran’s negotiating team amid internal disputes, with Saeed Jalili seen as a possible replacement and Araghchi seeking control of the talks, informed sources told Iran International.

• US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing that Iran has “an important choice” to make a “good deal” if it abandons its nuclear programme in verifiable ways.

(This is the problem you get with three or four ruling councils when their ideology does not mesh. We thought the US was difficult with three different agencies, a lot of opinions.)

Araghchi leaves Islamabad, set to travel to Oman and Russia

32 minutes ago

Iranian media reported that Foreign Minister AbbasAraghchi left Islamabad after meeting Pakistani officials.

He is expected to travel next to Oman and Russia.

Iranian officials had earlier saidAraghchi had no plan to meet US officials in Pakistan.(so was he barred with meeting with US? So is Russia or Oman be a third party work with Iran and US. Why is Iran so afraid to speak with the President)

https://www.iranintl.com/en/liveblog/202604194357

Macron says focus is reopening Hormuz as energy shortage fears grow

55 minutes ago

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that his priority remained the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, after TotalEnergies chief Patrick Pouyanne warned that a prolonged Iran war could trigger global energy shortages.

Speaking in Athens alongside Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Macron said the aim was torestore freedom of navigation through the strait in line with international law and without tolls, so that conditions could gradually return to normal in the coming days and weeks.

His remarks came a day after Pouyanne saidthe world could face energy scarcity if the conflict continued for another two or three months, warning that roughly 20% of global oil and gas supply normally passes through Hormuz and could not be stranded without major consequences.

Macron also said geopolitical panic could itself fuel shortages.More than a dozen countries have said they are ready to join a France- and Britain-led mission to protect shipping in the waterway when conditions allow.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/liveblog/202604194357

Current time in Israel: April 25, 5:48 PM

Live Updates: Iran says no talks planned with US as American envoys head to Pakistan

IDF orders evacuation of another Lebanese village, repeats warning to civilians amid attempts to return south

• Dozens of Palestinians breach IDF checkpoints to enter Jenin refugee camp.

Hezbollah violates ceasefire with Israel again, launches projectiles at North

The IDF emphasized that the incident "constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire understandings by the Hezbollah terrorist organization."

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/2026-04-25/live-updates-894094

APRIL 25, 2026 16:34

Two projectiles were launched into Israeli territory by the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah, triggering sirens in the areas of Manara, Margaliot, and Misgav Am in northern Israel, the IDF announced on Saturday.

One of the projectiles was successfully intercepted by the IDF, and the other fell in an open area.No injuries were reported.

The IDF emphasized thatthe incident "constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire understandings by the Hezbollah terrorist organization."

This is the second time Hezbollah has violated the ceasefire, which began on April 16 andwas originally supposed to last for 10 days before being extended for an additional three weeks.

On Tuesday, Hezbollah terrorists fired a rocket at Israeli troops operating in southern Lebanon, constituting the first ceasefire violation, according to Israeli media reports.

The IDF confirmed the Tuesday attack against its troops, stating that it had located and struck the Hezbollah rocket launcher used in the incident.

IDF's Saturday operations against Hezbollah terrorists

Prior to the ceasefire-violating projectile launches, the IDF successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial targetidentified in the vicinity of Israeli troops operating in southern Lebanon before it could cross into Israeli territory.

In its continued operations against Hezbollah, the IDF also killed several terrorists over the course of the weekend so far, the military announced on Saturday.

Three Hezbollah terrorists driving a motorcycle loaded with weapons were struck, in addition to another terrorist identified riding a motorcycle identified behind the IDF’s Forward Defense Line.

Soldiers from the Golani Brigade and the Multidimensional Unit identified and guided an air strike against two more armed Hezbollah terrorists in the Litani River area.

All of the terrorists targeted on Saturday posed threats to Israeli troopsand were killed in order to ensure the safety of IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-894104

more blabber and threats from Iran, even though they are losing

2 hours ago

Iran lawmaker says Tehran will keep squeezing enemy in HormuzKEK

Ghasem Ravanbakhsh, a lawmaker representing Qom, said Iran would keep pressuring its enemy in the Strait of Hormuz until it surrendered.

He said public presence of Islamic Republic’s loyalists in the streets was one of Iran’s sources of strength and added: “Whether in negotiations or on the battlefield, we will keep pressing the enemy’s throat in the Strait of Hormuz until it submits.”(the more they make threats the more the sound like cowards)

2 hours ago

GCC chief says any deal with Tehran must cover missiles and proxies

Jassim Mohammed Al Budaiwi,secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, said any comprehensive agreement with the Islamic Republicmust address not only its nuclear program but also its ballistic missile programand the activities of itsregional proxy groups.

He also pointed to the possible consequences of any closure of the Strait of Hormuz, saying it would have a direct impact on Europe’s energy security and vital sectors, including aviation, and stressed the importance of closer cooperation with Europe on energy supply security.

4 hours ago

Iran warns US over blockade, threatens response

Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters warned the United States it would face a response if it continues what it described as a “blockade, banditry and piracy” in the region.

In a statement, the command said US forces would meet “a reaction from Iran’s powerful armed forces” if such actions persist.

It added Iran is ready to monitor movements in the region and maintain control over the Strait of Hormuz, and would inflict heavier losses in case of further attacks.

The warning to the United States came after US Central Command said a guided-missile destroyer enforced a blockade on an Iranian-flagged vessel heading to an Iranian port.

The US military has said it is enforcing a blockade on ships entering or leaving Iranian portsas part of measures ordered by President Donald Trump.

Separately, TankerTrackers.com saidthe vessel involved appeared to be the Iranian tanker Herby, which had transferred about 2 million barrels of crude and was delayed returning to Iran due to the blockade.

Guided-missiledestroyer USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) enforces the U.S. blockadeon Iranian ports against an Iranian-flagged ship attempting to sail to a port in Iran, April 24. pic.twitter.com/XsGg65nXt2

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 25, 2026

4 hours ago

Iran conveyed demands, concerns on US stance via Pakistan - Reuters

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi conveyed Tehran’s demandsand concerns about US positions to Pakistani officials during a visit to Islamabad, a Pakistani source involved in the talks told Reuters on Saturday.

4 hours ago

Qatar condemns drone attack on Kuwait border, urges Iraq action

Qatar condemned a drone attack on two Kuwaiti northern border posts launched from Iraq, calling it a violation of Kuwait’s sovereignty and a threat to regional stability.

In a statement on Saturday, the foreign ministry saidIraq must take responsibility to prevent such attacks from happening again.

Qatar also voiced full solidarity with Kuwait and backed measures to protect its security.

5 hours ago

Iran Air resumes Tehran-Mashhad flights after 56-day halt

Iran Air said it operated its first scheduled Tehran-Mashhad-Tehran flight on Saturday after a 56-day suspension.

(So it seems like Iran is restoring their country, but still complaining)

https://www.iranintl.com/en/liveblog/202604194357

Germany plans minesweeper deployment for possible Hormuz mission(wow they are going to help?)

2 hours ago

Germany will soon send a minesweeper to the Mediterranean for a possible future mission in the Strait of Hormuz, German officials said, as Berlin prepares for a potential international operation to protect shipping after the end of the US-Iran war.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Germany would dispatch a minesweeper and provide a command-and-support vessel, though he did not specify exactly when the ship would depart. A defense ministryspokeswoman later said the navy’s Fulda would be deployed in the coming days with a crew of about 45.

She said the aim was to make a “significant and visible contribution” to an international coalition seeking to protect freedom of navigation in the strait.

Any actual deployment to Hormuz,however, would require a lasting end to hostilities and approval from Germany’s lower house of parliament.

Pistorius had already said about a week ago that Germany was preparing for a possible mission.His comments came after Chancellor Friedrich Merz said such an operation would need a legal basis, such as a UN Security Council resolution, as well as approval from the German government and parliament.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202604258081

Three Baha’i women jailed in southeast Iran, one of them pregnant

2 hours ago

Three Baha’i women from Rafsanjan, a city in Iran’s southeastern Kerman province,were sent to prison on Saturday to serve four-month sentences on the charge of “propaganda against the system,” according to information received by Iran International.

The women – Boshra Mostafavi, Nahid Naimi and Didar Ahmadi – were transferred to Kerman prison after being sentenced by an appeals court in the province.

According to information received by Iran International, the judge told them during the proceedings:“You are Baha’i, and in an Islamic country you must pay the price for being Baha’i.”

The three had earlier been acquitted by a criminal courtin Rafsanjan for lack of evidence, but that ruling was challenged by the local prosecutor and later overturned.

Mostafavi was transferred to prison while pregnant.

Theft Is Now Progressive Chic. 1/2

In some left-wing corners of the commentariat, moral rectitude is out.Flagrant disregard of the social contract is in.

By Thomas Chatterton Williams

In 1785, Immanuel Kant introduced his famous “categorical imperative.”

Put simply: Act the way you want others to behave. This dictate, a version of the Golden Rule, has been a bedrock of moral philosophy for centuries.

But for the New Yorker staff writer Jia Tolentino,Kant’s “categorical-imperative-type thing” no longer applies.

Moral rectitude, in some left-wing corners of the commentariat, is out; flagrant disregard of the social contract is in.

Yesterday, The New York Times posted a video of a conversation featuring Tolentino, the pro-communist strea mer Hasan Piker, and the Times opinion editor Nadja Spiegelman, under the headline:

“The Rich Don’t Play by the Rules. So Why Should I?”It began with Tolentino, a highly successful author, admitting to shoplifting lemons from Whole Foods.

“I think that stealing from a big box store—I’ll just state my platform—it’s neither very significant as a moral wrong, nor is it significant in any way as protest or direct action.”

“But what about the argument that if everyone just starts stealing wantonly,” Spiegelman replies,

“Whole Foods will eventually raise the prices?” “Yeah, chaos,” Piker says. “Full chaos. Let’s go.”

“I kind of am inclined toward this,” Tolentino adds.

“Everyone, try it. See what happens.”Marc Fisher: Shoplifters gone wild It is difficult to know where to begin with such moral reasoning, if it can be called reasoning.

At a time of kleptocratic governance and corporate oligarchy,Tolentino and Piker resort to a game of jaded whataboutism.

For them, theft is a kind of perverse virtue signaling. Societal problems do not just excuse personal wrongdoing; they ennoble it.

Both Tolentino and Piker seem to justify stealing from large companies such as Whole Foods, which is owned by Amazon, because those corporations exploit workers and already budget for theft. Why wring our hands about shoplifting when it’s been accounted for?

Such an attempt to normalize petty crime makes Vicky Osterweil’s 2020 manifesto, In Defense of Looting, look high-minded. As with Osterweil, who argued that white supremacy can render even violent looting a legitimate act,Piker and Tolentino suggest that certain crimes become not just morally justifiable but even admirable when coupled with a claim against structural injustice.

Spiegelman uses the term micro-looting, dressing up petty theft in political pretensions. Piker, who has 3 million followers on the streaming platform Twitch,and is sometimes described as the left’s answer to Joe Rogan, states that he is “pro-piracy all the way, like, across the board,” adding that were it technologically possible, he would even pirate a car, whatever that means.

Both Piker and Tolentino brag about IP theft. Tolentino encourages readers to skirt The New Yorker’s paywalls and read her articles for free. “I say, go off, use the Wayback Machine.”

Luck Is Running Out CHARLEY LOCKE “Would you steal from the Louvre?” Spiegelman asks. “Yes,”

https://archive.is/hILDY#selection-601.0-623.26

>>24536742

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Piker says. “I would not be logistically capable of executing” such a theft, Tolentino adds. “But would I cheer on every news story of people that I see doing it?

Absolutely.”

“I think it’s cool,” Piker says. “We’ve got to get back to cool crimes like that: bank robberies, stealing priceless artifacts, things of that nature.”

These remarks are manifestly silly,but the conversation ranges into darker territory.

Toward the end of the discussion,

==Spiegelman asks for an example of something that is not considered acceptable to do but should be. Tolentino responds, “Maybe things like blowing up a pipeline.”

“I can relate to what you were saying, Jia,” Spiegelman replies.“It is so hard to live ethically in an unethical society.”

She’s right. Rather than lead a discussion about the difficulties of maintaining personal integrity in an immoral age,however, she wound up convening a celebration of vice.

Tolentino’s treatment of sabotage is emblematic of the discussion’s overall irresponsibility. She continues, “Some sort of fire could hypothetically be framed within a collective action that is tactically useful.”

Piker concurs: “Sabotage has played a formative role in labor unions.”

During the Kenosha, Wisconsin, uprising in the summer of 2020, as fires raged nearby, a masked rioter screamed into a camera,“It’s Black Lives Matter, not building lives matter!”(No ever black lives don’t matter, they made it up to create division and a license for crime.)

The implication, which was widely accepted at that time on the left, was that property destruction is trivial but human life is sacrosanct.

Graeme Wood: The pinnacle of looting apologia Yet both Piker and Tolentino move from discussing nonlethal crimes of nuisance and destruction to making excuses for murder.

When the conversation turns to Luigi Mangione, the alleged assassin of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Piker asserts that the executive had been engaged in “a tremendous amount of social murder.”

Both he and Tolentino frame the at-times-gleeful public reaction to the killing as understandable because the health-care industry is structurally oppressive. Watching the video, and not merely reading the transcript, is worthwhile here.

Asked whether one should murder a health-care executive, all three dutifully say no,even as they refuse to treat the extrajudicial killing of a man with anything approaching gravity. In fact, the way they exchange smirks about it, you could be forgiven for thinking they were still on the subject of shoplifting produce.

And so a very silly conversation leads to a series of positions that are far from frivolous.

Its overarching premise is that the law loses its legitimacy when political and economic elites violate—or are merely perceived to violate—the social contract. In such a world, ordinary people become entitled to ignore rules as they see fit.

Neither Piker nor Tolentino explicitly endorses violence. But it is a short conceptual bridge from where they sit behind microphones to political murder.

https://archive.is/hILDY#selection-601.0-623.26

It’s surprising for the Atlantic has a different view on theft. Or the dissolution of society