WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Trump administration said Tuesday that it would appeal a federal judge's order halting a presidential proclamation that prevents certain immigrants from seeking asylum.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a notice Tuesday that indicated it will appeal the order to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It also asked the judge to stay his order pending the appeal.
Earlier this month, Judge Jon Tigar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California sided with opponents of President Donald Trump's measure prohibiting immigrants who cross the southern border illegally from claiming asylum.
In response, Trump lashed out at the 9th Circuit as biased and dismissed Tigar, an appointee of Trump's predecessor, as an "Obama judge," prompting a rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who said the federal judiciary doesn't have "Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges."
The U.S. Supreme Court may end up deciding the asylum case.
Trump issued the proclamation earlier this month to address caravans of Central American migrants approaching the U.S.-Mexico border, which he's claimed are a national security threat, stating that only people who enter the country at official checkpoints can apply for asylum.
The Central Americans, many claiming they were fleeing from persecution, poverty and violence in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, were making their way towards the U.S. border.
Several thousands of migrants, including women and children, have arrived in Mexican border city of Tijuana.
The situation has been tense along the border, where U.S. border officials fired tear gas on hundreds of migrants who sought to enter the United States near the southern border with Mexico on Sunday.
The chaos started as a peaceful demonstration to appeal for the U.S. authorities to speed processing for those already in Tijuana.
Trump and the White House have defended the use of tear gas but the action has drawn sharp criticism.
According to U.S. laws, asylum is intended for those fleeing their countries of origin because they have suffered persecution or fear that they will be persecuted if they are forced to go back.
It is a federal crime to cross the U.S.-Mexico border between ports of entry, but that does not typically preclude one from requesting asylum.
Tigar said that federal law says someone may seek asylum if they have arrived in the United States, "whether or not at a designated port of arrival."
