The D.C. Circuit has determined that sections 1182(f) and 1185(a) do not authorize the President to remove non-citizens who are already present in the United States through summary procedures that bypass the removal procedures established by the INA. The Court affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment, holding that the Proclamation and implementing Guidance were unlawful to the extent they circumvented statutory removal procedures and prevented individuals from applying for asylum, statutory withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture.
“Statutory text, structure, and consistent Executive Branch and judicial recognition of the law’s constraints all lead to the same conclusion: Congress enacted the asylum statute, with narrow exceptions specified by statute, to grant all foreign individuals ‘physically present’ in the United States a right to apply for asylum and have their individual applications adjudicated. If the Government wishes to modify this carefully structured and intricate system, it must present those arguments to the only branch of government able to amend the INA: Congress.”
The Court also affirmed class certification as clarified by the stay panel and rejected the government’s argument that 8 USC 1252(f)(1) barred the district court’s injunctive relief or vacatur of the Guidance.
The full text of Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services v. Mullin can be found here: https://media.cadc.uscourts.gov/opinions/docs/2026/04/25-5243-2170245.pdf