Obama-appointed judge blocks Trump's order to curb asylum and protection claims for illegal immigrants

A federal judge in Washington on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump's executive order denying migrants crossing the southern border from applying for asylum or withholding of deportation in the country.

The move dealt a major blow to Trump as he seeks to further enforce his broad immigration offensive, one of the cornerstones of his second term.

U.S. District Judge Randolph Daniel Moss was the one who said Trump's Jan. 20 proclamation, which sought to bar all immigrants "involved in the invasion across the southern border" from applying for asylum or seeking withholding of deportation, exceeds his authority.

Thus, the judge appointed by Obama in 2014 for the District of Columbia thus gave the nod to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which filed suit months earlier on behalf of several immigrant groups.

The ACLU also brought 13 asylum claims to court earlier this year. In February, the group urged the courts to prevent Trump's proclamation from taking effect, arguing that the action was "both unlawful and unprecedented."

Moss: "The executive branch faces enormous challenges"

In the same vein the judge ruled that the president "lacks the inherent constitutional authority" to supplant federal statutes governing deportations. In the lengthy 128-page opinion, Moss asserted that the Constitution and federal immigration law did not grant Trump the broad authorities he claimed.

"The court recognizes that the executive branch faces enormous challenges in preventing and deterring illegal entry into the United States and in adjudicating the overwhelming backlog of asylum claims from those who have entered the country," he wrote.

Despite the broad terms of the order, Judge Moss postponed its entry into effect for two weeks (14 days) to allow for an appeal.

The Trump administration filed an appeal hours after the judge's ruling.

A "Marxist" judge

Under Trump’s directive, the government has shut down legal pathways at the southern border for people “fleeing persecution or torture in their home countries” to seek asylum and remain in the U.S., according to UCLA. At the same time, Trump has moved to suspend other programs that grant temporary protected status to certain groups.

The judge's decision was criticized by Trump adviser Stephen Miller, who described Moss as a "Marxist" judge in an X post.

"In an attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court's ruling on nationwide injunctions, a Marxist judge has declared that all potential FUTURE illegal aliens on foreign soil (i.e., a large portion of planet Earth) are part of a protected global "class" entitled to admission into the United States," Miller commented.

Moss' case joins other judges appointed in the Obama era who have put the brakes on directives from the current Administration.