Trump asylum restrictions challenged by rights groups in lawsuit calling the move "unlawful"

Central American migrants in Mexico, heading toward the U.S. Photo: Pep Companys/AFP/Getty Images

Civil rights and advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit in California Tuesday against the Trump administration’s new policy to restrict asylum for migrants coming across the southern border, which it calls "unlawful."

Why it matters: The new rules could have a huge impact in limiting Central American migrants' asylum claims to the U.S. The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the suit on behalf of the groups, alleges the move would "significantly undermine, if not virtually repeal, the U.S. asylum system at the southern border, and cruelly closes our doors to refugees fleeing persecution."

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Go deeper:

• The Trump administration is making it much more difficult to seek asylum
• It's taking longer and longer to become a legal immigrant