MAYER BROWN SECURES LANDMARK NINTH CIRCUIT VICTORY FOR CLASS OF ASYLUM SEEKERS

Mayer Brown secured a significant pro bono victory in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for individuals seeking access to the US asylum process.

Since 2018, Mayer Brown, along with co-counsel from the American Immigration Council, Center for Constitutional Rights, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, and Democracy Forward, has represented nonprofit Al Otro Lado and a certified class of thousands of asylum seekers in a case against federal immigration authorities who instituted a policy called “metering,” or turning back asylum seekers at ports of entry on the US-Mexico border and forcing them to wait – often for months – in dangerous conditions in Mexican border towns.

In 2021, the team won a preliminary injunction, class certification, and summary judgment after extensive fact and expert discovery in the US District Court for the Southern District of California, which held that the US government has a duty to inspect and process asylum seekers as they arrive at US ports of entry, and the government may not turn asylum seekers back to Mexico under the metering policy if they are in the process of arriving at a port of entry along the US-Mexico border. The government appealed that ruling.

Last week, the Ninth Circuit largely affirmed the District Court’s opinion, including the critical precedent that the government’s duty applies even to asylum seekers who have not yet reached a port of entry due to the government’s unlawful turnbacks. The legal decision in this case will likely impact asylum seekers’ right to access the US asylum process at ports of entry across the US-Mexico border.

The Mayer Brown team included counsel Michelle Webster and associate Matthew Fenn.

“Mayer Brown remains committed to creating lasting, real world change through our pro bono work – this important win is a victory for thousands of asylum seekers and affirms the principle that migrants arriving at US ports of entry have a right to seek asylum,” said Matthew. “Although much work remains to be done in order to advance migrants’ rights to access the asylum process, this is an important step in the right direction.”

Learn more about Mayer Brown’s pro bono work here.

###