Rep. Ilhan Omar Statement on Federal Court Blocking President Trump’s Asylum Restrictions

WASHINGTON – Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) released the following statement after a federal judge temporarily blocks President Donald Trump's plan to deny most asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border:

"This is an important victory for the rule of law, basic human dignity, and all people seeking a better life and a shot at the American Dream. What we face is not an immigration crisis. It is a foreign policy crisis. The people who arrive at our border don't appear out of nowhere. They are fleeing oppression and exercising their legally guaranteed right to asylum. Instead of addressing the unrest we have fueled, we are making it worse and then torturing the people who come to our border."

"We should do what any other country would do in this situation – bring in the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, an agency that has the expertise and the training to handle massive flows of refugees humanely."