A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order, deeming the situation at the southern border an invasion, and suspended asylum access.

U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington D.C. said his order blocking the policy will take effect on July 16, giving the Trump administration time to appeal.

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Moss wrote that the Constitution or immigration law does not permit Trump “an extra-statutory, extra-regulatory regime for repatriating or removing individuals from the United States, without an opportunity to apply for asylum” or other protections.

Moss, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, acknowledged the administration’s “enormous challenges” at the southern border and an “overwhelming backlog” of asylum claims. But he repeated that the president isn’t authorized to prohibit asylum.

“Nothing in the INA or the Constitution grants the President … the sweeping authority asserted in the Proclamation and implementing guidance,” Moss wrote in the 128-page ruling. “An appeal to necessity cannot fill that void.”

Trump’s Jan. 20 executive proclamation, “Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion,” was aimed at curbing immigration. He argued that he has the executive power to determine who crosses the border.

“An essential feature of any sovereign nation is the existence of territorial boundaries and the
inherent authority to decide who and what may cross those boundaries. The Supreme Court of the
United States has described this power as a ‘fundamental act of sovereignty,’ which ‘stems not
alone from legislative power, but is inherent in the executive power to control the foreign affairs
of the nation,'” he wrote.

A White House spokesperson told Politico that the ruling is “an attack on our Constitution, the laws Congress enacted, and our national sovereignty.”

“A local district court judge has no authority to stop President Trump and the United States from securing our border from the flood of aliens trying to enter illegally. The judge’s decision, which contradicts the Supreme Court’s ruling against granting universal relief, would allow entry into the United States of all aliens who may ever try to come in illegally,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said.

American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Lee Gelernt celebrated the ruling after he argued the case against the government.

“The decision means there will be protection for those fleeing horrific danger and that the president cannot ignore laws passed by Congress simply by claiming that asylum-seekers are engaged in an invasion,” he said.

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Illegal crossings at the southern border recently reached a new low at just over 6,000 migrant arrests.

“THE TRUMP EFFECT – Total Border Patrol encounters for the entire month of June 2025 was 6,070. That is less than a single day under Biden. As a matter of fact, the total number of encounters is less than half of a single day under Biden on many days,” border czar Tom Homan posted on X. “We have never seen numbers this low. Never.”