A federal appeals court ordered the government of Donald Trump last Friday to reopen the southern border and restore access to asylum interviews, in a ruling that immigration attorney Willy Allen described this Monday as "a significant decision by the Federal Court," in an interview with CiberCuba.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling in the case RAICES v. Noem with a vote of two to one in a 122-page decision, declaring the asylum ban that the Trump administration implemented from day one of its second term, on January 20, 2025, to be illegal.
Allen, who analyzed the decision on his weekly program alongside Tania Costa, explained that the court ordered that "the government reopen the border and allow asylum applications at the border," although he cautioned that the practical implementation is yet to be seen.
In response to the question of whether this means a Cuban can arrive at the border and request asylum immediately, Allen was straightforward: "Not yet, because at this moment there is the order that came out on Friday. It's a 122-page decision."
The lawyer acknowledged that he had not yet read the full ruling and that he hoped his colleagues would explain the detailed content of the document to him in English.
Despite his confidence in the judicial system — "I trust in the Federal Courts," he stated — Allen anticipated resistance from the Executive: "I suspect there will be an appeal. I suspect they will drag their feet to open the border."
His suspicions are backed by institutional support. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has already stated that the ruling will "not be the final word," indicating a possible appeal to the Supreme Court. The National Security Advisor, Stephen Miller, referred to the decision as an "abomination."
The ruling rejects the administration's argument that section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act allows for the summary deportation of asylum seekers without a hearing, and declares unconstitutional the presidential proclamation that invoked an "invasion" as a pretext for total closure.
The Trump administration's immigration policy has hit Cubans hard. The asylum approval rate for citizens of the Island dropped to 7% nationwide, and encounters at the border fell from 151,000 in fiscal year 2024 to 31,944 in fiscal year 2025.
This judicial setback to Trump's asylum policy adds to other legal battles that the government has lost in the courts regarding immigration, in a pattern that Allen described as inevitable.
The lawyer noted that he and his colleagues are currently working on lawsuits to compel the government to conclude pending cases and issue citizenship appointments, anticipating that federal courts will also eventually order the resumption of those functions.
The Supreme Court had previously ruled on attempts by the Trump administration to limit asylum, and the new ruling from the D.C. Circuit confirms a lower court's decision that had already blocked the policy on July 2, 2025.
Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the ACLU who argued the case, celebrated the decision as "the end of an inhumane policy that sent families, including children, into danger without a hearing."
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