Judge rules Chad Wolf likely unlawfully serving as Homeland Security secretary and temporarily blocks some asylum restrictions
By Laura Ly and Paul LeBlanc, CNN
Updated 11:31 PM ET, Mon September 14, 2020
(CNN)A federal judge in Maryland on Friday ruled that Chad Wolf is likely unlawfully serving as acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and temporarily barred the Trump administration from enforcing new asylum restrictions on members of two immigration advocacy groups, according to court documents.
"In sum, the Court concludes that Plaintiffs are likely to demonstrate (former acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin) McAleenan's appointment was invalid under the agency's applicable order of succession, and so he lacked the authority to amend the order of succession to ensure Wolf's installation as Acting Secretary," Judge Paula Xinis' 69-page ruling said.
Xinis also wrote that "by extension, because Wolf filled the role of Acting Secretary without authority, he promulgated the challenged rules also 'in excess of...authority,' and not 'in accordance with the law.'"
CNN has reached out to the department for comment.
The preliminary finding that Wolf is likely unlawfully serving in his position came as a part of temporarily blocking two asylum rules while the lawsuit over those rules is heard. The case is ongoing.
CNN has previously reported that the Government Accountability Office found that Wolf and Ken Cuccinelli, the senior official performing the duties of deputy secretary, were appointed as part of an invalid order of succession.
"We vehemently disagree with what the GAO has put out," Wolf told CNN's Jake Tapper at the time.
The Friday ruling comes weeks after President Donald
Trump tweeted that he would officially appoint Wolf to take over the role on a permanent basis. Wolf's nomination was formally sent to the Senate last week.
Wolf has been the acting secretary since November 2019. The department has not had a confirmed secretary since April 2019 when former Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was forced to resign.
Wolf has been at the forefront of a host of issues like immigration, civil unrest and the coronavirus pandemic response, and as a result, has come under criticism for his actions. During Wolf's tenure, the department has been marked by a focus on the border wall, a fight with New York over Global Entry and more recently, a deployment of federal officers to Portland, Oregon, in opposition to local officials.
Last month, a coalition of 20 state attorneys general and 10 cities and counties challenged the Trump administration's new rules that they argued limited access to employment authorization for asylum seekers, according to a statement from New York Attorney General Letitia James' office.
"The first rule would require asylum seekers to wait a year before applying for employment authorization, and bar many from obtaining authorization at all. The second rule would eliminate the longstanding requirement that employment authorization applications be processed within 30 days, thus allowing such applications to sit untouched indefinitely," James' office said.
more:
http://www.cnn.com/2020/09/14/politics/judge-chad-wolf/index.html
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