Judge won’t block US asylum restrictions at southern border

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge says the Trump administration can enforce its new restrictions on asylum for people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border while lawsuits challenging the policy play out.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly in Washington has refused to grant a temporary restraining order. Another hearing on a similar suit is scheduled later Wednesday in California.

Kelly says the immigrant advocacy groups that sued didn’t prove that their work would be “irreparably harmed� if the policy went into effect.

The proposal prevents most migrants from seeking asylum in the U.S. if they passed through another country first.

It targets the tens of thousands of Central American adults and children who cross Mexico every month to try to enter the U.S. It also would affect asylum-seekers from Africa, Asia, and South America.