President Donald Trump was hit with a class-action lawsuit on Thursday by a dozen migrants who are currently approaching the southern border in a caravan.
The migrants in the lawsuit are claiming a violation of their due process under the Fifth Amendment.
The lawsuit includes a dozen Honduran nationals, including six children, Fox News report.
The legal challenge was filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
Related: Here’s What Can Happen When the Caravan Reaches Our Border
“Trump’s professed and enacted policy toward thousands of caravanners seeking asylum in the United States is shockingly unconstitutional,” the lawsuit states.
“President Trump continues to abuse the law, including constitutional rights, to deter Central Americans from exercising their lawful right to seek asylum.”
The lawsuit points to the president, saying that he will stop the caravan from entering the country. It argues that the president cannot stop asylum-seekers by employing the military when they have a fair claim.
It also declares that the president was trying to stoke fear by saying criminals and gang members are in the caravan.
Trump has made the migrant caravan a central focus with the midterm elections nearing on November 6. In interviews, at his rallies and in speeches, he has warned the caravan has bad actors among its thousands of participants.
He promised to crack down on fake asylum claims during a speech on Thursday by requiring these individuals to apply at a port of entry.
The migrant caravan has been traveling since early last month to the southern border from Honduras. Trump has responded by securing the border with additional border patrol and military support.
But the caravan has sparked a contentious debate about the greater immigration reform battle.
The lawsuit states that the president would be in violation of the law if he prevented credible asylum-seekers for applying whether they crossed illegally or not.
The Immigration and Nationality Act states that those who arrive in the United States may apply for asylum if they have a credible fear of persecution.
The lawsuit states that the president would be in violation of the law if he prevented credible asylum-seekers for applying whether they crossed illegally or not.
The president has constitutional authority to suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens, but that action could be subject to legal obstacles under international agreements the U.S. has signed to process credible asylum claims.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the president’s authority on June 26, 2018, after he was sued for blocking entry from six predominantly Muslim countries in 2017.
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Trump also attempted an earlier crackdown on illegal immigration, which resulted in children being separated from adults who brought them into the country — and who may or may not have been related to them. The process that’s begun when a migrant requests asylum in the U.S. often takes longer to complete than the 20 days immigration officials are allowed to hold children.
That problem could potentially occur again when the caravan arrives.
The White House, Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security were also named as defendants in the lawsuit.
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