SAN FRANCISCO _ A federal appeals court decided Thursday that immigrants who cross the border without authorization may go to court to challenge a decision by immigration authorities denying them asylum.
The decision, by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, could keep immigrants in the country for years while they challenge the government's refusal to grant them asylum.
The 9th Circuit reached the decision after concluding that a 1996 federal law restricting court review violated the Constitution.
The case is likely to go to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The panel noted that the high court has yet to consider the question of whether asylum seekers arrested shortly after crossing the border have a constitutional right to challenge the government's denial of asylum.
The only other federal appeals court to rule on the question, the Philadelphia-based 3rd Circuit, reached a different conclusion.
The 3rd Circuit decided in 2016 that immigrants arrested after just crossing the border are not entitled to challenge their removal through habeas corpus.
"It will mean that thousands of current and future noncitizens will not be sent back to potential death without a federal court looking at their case," said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project.
"The historical and practical importance of this ruling cannot be overstated," he said. "This decision reaffirms the Constitution's foundational principle that individuals deprived of their liberty must have access to a federal court."
He said the decision "reaffirms the right to habeas corpus applies to citizens and noncitizens, regardless of how long they have been in the U.S."
