A federal judge has ruled against the U.S. government’s practice of blocking asylum seekers from applying for refuge at the U.S.-Mexico border. The policy, known as “metering,” was first enforced by the Obama administration. It caps the number of people who can seek asylum at ports of entry and cross into the U.S. while their claims make it through the courts. President Trump later expanded metering across the southern border, forcing thousands of asylum seekers who were placed on long waiting lists to remain in Mexican border cities for months, where they faced the threat of kidnapping, sexual assault and murder.

Lawyer Stephen Medlock, who argued the case on behalf of asylum seekers, said in a statement, “The very government officials that should have been welcoming and assisting victims of persecution and torture were told to turn them away from the United States. The district court found that to be unequivocally illegal.”