Timothy Kelly, appearing for his confirmation hearing in 2017. Credit: Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Trump administration notched an early win in the latest fight over its asylum policy after a federal judge refused to issue a restraining order against it Wednesday, but a second judge hinted a similar challenge may be on shakier ground in California.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017, turned down a request for a temporary restraining order in a ruling announced from the bench. The order follows a hearing held on Monday.

A similar fight is unfolded before U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar of the Northern District of California Wednesday. Tigar blocked the previous changes the administration made last year to limit asylum to those only entering the country through official ports of entry. 

And on Wednesday, Tigar once again appeared skeptical of the administration's moves on asylum. Early in the hearing, Tigar said the evidence detailing the inadequacy of Mexico's own system for dealing with asylum seekers was “stunning.” 

“There's some pretty tough stuff in there,” said Tigar later of the government's own evidence. “Applications are up dramatically but there's no indication that the Mexican asylum process has grown.

Trump's new rules make asylum seekers on the southern border ineligible unless they first sought such relief through another country they passed through before reaching the U.S. border.

The challengers in the Washington case, the Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition and Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, are represented by a team from Hogan Lovells. They argued the new rules violate the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the Administrative Procedures Act since there was no notice and comment period.

The Hogan Lovells team said in a statement afterward that it firmly believes Trump's asylum policy violates the Constitution.

“This new rule attempts to create a third-country exception to the presumption of eligibility for asylum, and is likely to prevent most migrants from being able to seek refuge in this country,” said Hogan Lovells partner Neal Katyal, who is handling the case along with senior associate Mitchell Reich.

The White House, in a written statement, called Kelly's decision a victory for Americans concerned about the crisis at the southern border. “The court properly rejected the attempt of a few special interest groups to block a rule that discourages abuse of our asylum system,” the White House said. “The rule properly encourages migrants to seek asylum in other countries they have traveled through before reaching the United States and makes those who fail to do so ineligible for asylum, thereby foreclosing opportunistic claims by those who want to exploit our asylum system in an effort to immigrate unlawfully to the United States.”

Kelly was the first judge to hold a hearing on the new asylum rules, and subsequently, the first to rule on a temporary restraining order.

Tigar's handling of the previous litigation ultimately drew criticism from Trump, who called him an “Obama judge,” and said his administration can't win in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Trump's comments drew a rare rebuke from Justice John Roberts. “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,” Roberts said in a statement issued by the court. “What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”

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