Trump White House renews crucial pledge as left-wing activists sue over border crackdown

On day one of his administration, President Donald Trump signed executive orders declaring a national emergency at the border and allowing officials to remove immigrants without allowing them to request asylum, citing an "invasion" at the border.  

The lawsuit claims that the "unlawful" and "unprecedented" order is doing just what Congress by statute decreed that the United States must not do. 

"It is returning asylum seekers-not just single adults, but families too-to countries where they face persecution or torture, without allowing them to invoke the protections Congress has provided. Indeed, the Proclamation does not even exempt unaccompanied children, despite the specific protections such children receive by statute," it says.

"This is an unprecedented power grab that will put countless lives in danger," said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project. "No president has the authority to unilaterally override the protections Congress has afforded those fleeing danger."

Groups signed onto the lawsuit include the National Immigrant Justice Center, Texas Civil Rights Project, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, the ACLU of the District of Columbia and the ACLU of Texas.

The White House indicated in a statement that it has no plans to change course from its current trajectory.

"President Trump was given a resounding mandate to end the disregard and abuse of our immigration laws and secure our borders," White House spokesperson Kush Desai told Fox News Digital. "The Trump administration will continue to put Americans and America First." 

The lawsuit claimed the order is unconstitutional and against both congressional intent and Supreme Court precedent. The lawsuit was separate to one filed by two dozen states on the same issue. The White House said in response that the lawsuits are "nothing more than an extension of the Left's resistance - and the Trump administration is ready to face them in court."