The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected the Trump Administration’s motion to stay an order that prevents the enforcement of the “Third Country Transit Rule” on Thursday, finding that the government had failed to prove the necessity of the stay.

The Rule prevents asylum seekers who enter or attempt to enter the US from the southern border from seeking asylum unless they have applied for asylum in another country. Additionally, they must have passed through the other country on the way to the border. Custom and Border Protection (CPB) officers have been known to physically block asylum seekers from entering the US. The Rule went into effect July 16, 2019.

Al Otro Lado, the organization representing the 13 plaintiffs in the case, argues that if the rule is applied to asylum seekers who arrived at the border before July 16, then the rule will delay their ability to seek asylum in the US. In some cases the bar may be permanent. Mexican law requires asylum seekers to apply within 30 days of entering Mexico. Some of the asylum seekers at the border have been there longer due to a US policy that only admits a certain number of asylum seekers everyday. The government has stated that the policy limiting admissions is to prevent the ports of entry from being overwhelmed. The Mexican government does allow people to seek waivers to the 30-day rule. However, most of the asylum seekers cannot afford the legal counsel necessary to get a waiver. The Mexican asylum process takes about two years.

In November the district court ordered a preliminary injunction preventing the government from applying the rule to asylum seekers who arrived at the border before July 16. The government appealed, and the Ninth Circuit granted a temporary stay to maintain the status quo. On Thursday, the Ninth Circuit denied the motion to stay the injunction and added the case to its schedule so it can be heard on the merits.