"Biden administration's asylum rule halted by federal judge"

A federal judge in California has blocked a rule implemented by the Biden administration that allows immigration authorities to deny asylum to migrants who arrive at the US-Mexico border without first applying online or seeking protection in a country they passed through. The judge's ruling, which will not take effect for two weeks, stated that the rule improperly presumes that people who enter the country between legal border crossings are ineligible for asylum. The Biden administration has argued that protection systems in other countries have improved, but the judge noted the violence that many migrants face in Mexico and the infeasibility of seeking protection in transit countries. The administration plans to appeal the ruling.