Biden administration warns of major disruption at border if judges halt asylum rule

By ELLIOT SPAGAT and REBECCA SANTANA
Associated Press

The Biden administration is urging an appeals court to allow sweeping new restrictions on asylum to stay in place, warning that halting them would be “highly disruptive” at the border. The government on Tuesday asked a panel of judges in Pasadena, California — two appointed by President Bill Clinton and one by President Donald Trump — to keep in place a new rule that makes it more difficult to qualify for asylum if someone doesn’t first apply online or doesn’t first seek protection in a country they’re traveling through before getting to the U.S. Immigrant advocate groups say the law allows people to apply for asylum wherever they enter the country. The restrictions remain in place while under appeal.