GREENBELT, Md. — A federal judge has ruled that acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf is likely illegally serving in his position and does not have the authority to impose new restrictions on asylum seekers.


What You Need To Know

  • A federal judge ruled Chad Wolf is likely serving as acting DHS secretary illegally and cannot impose restrictions on asylum seekers

  • The Government Accountability Office said last month the proper line of succession was not followed after DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned

  • Twenty state attorneys general and 10 cities and counties are suing to stop the rules that would make it more difficult for asylum seekers to find work

In the 69-page ruling Friday, Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland blocked the Trump administration from enforcing rules that would make it more difficult for individuals seeking asylum to obtain employment. One measure would require asylum seekers to wait a year before applying for employment authorization, while another would eliminate a requirement that work authorization applications be processed within 30 days. 

A coalition of 20 state attorneys general and 10 cities and counties challenged the rules in court. The case is ongoing.

Last month, the Government Accountability Office said Wolf and DHS Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli are ineligible to serve in their current acting positions. The congressional watchdog agency said that after Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned in April 2019, an improper succession occurred when Kevin McAleenan was installed as the acting boss. McAleenan then altered the line of succession for other officials to succeed him after he left, an action the GAO says was invalid.

The Department of Homeland Security has disputed the GAO's assessment.

Both Wolf and Cuccinelli remain in their acting rules, and President Donald Trump announced last month he plans to nominate Wolf as Homeland Security secretary permanently. 

Xinis ruled that the plaintiffs in the case are "likely to demonstrate 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."

Subsequently, "because Wolf filled the role of Acting Secretary without authority," the new asylum rules are not "'in accordance with the law,” Xinis wrote. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who was among those who filed the lawsuit, applauded the judge’s ruling. 

“Not only is this decision welcome news for asylum seekers who were unfairly targeted by the Trump Administration, but the courts have now found that Chad Wolf has no authority at the Department of Homeland Security,” she said in a statement Monday.

“Every decision Mr. Wolf has made — from trying to punish Dreamers to targeting New Yorkers with an unlawful Trusted Traveler suspension, and everything in between — has been perpetrated by a man with no authority and no business sitting in the chair of the acting secretary of Homeland Security,” James added. “The Trump Administration’s continued efforts to violate the law and impose draconian orders through lapdog appointees should be immediately stopped and all decisions already executed should be immediately vacated."

DHS has not yet publicly responded to Xinis’ decision.