HOUSTON • A judge has ordered the U.S. government not to enforce a ban on asylum for people who cross the southern border illegally, another court setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to impose new immigration restrictions without congressional approval.

U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar agreed Monday with legal groups that immediately sued after President Donald Trump issued a Nov. 9 proclamation saying anyone who crossed the southern border between official ports of entry would be ineligible for asylum. The administration argued that caravans of migrants approaching the southern border made the new restrictions immediately necessary.

“Whatever the scope of the President’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden,” said Tigar, a nominee of former President Barack Obama.

Trump stopped family separations at the border earlier this year after a global outcry, but it was a federal judge who ruled the administration had to reunify the families.

Another judge rejected the administration’s request to try to detain migrant families in long-term facilities.

Monday’s ruling remains in effect for one month, barring an appeal. In limiting asylum, Trump used the same powers he used to impose a travel ban — the third try was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court.

A joint statement by Homeland Security and the Justice Department claimed the Supreme Court had already shown the president had the legal right to restrict asylum.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, speaking at a San Diego news conference, called the ruling “dangerous” and expressed confidence it would be overturned on appeal.

Trump on Tuesday criticized the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which would likely receive any appeal of Tigar’s order and has already ruled against the administration in several immigration cases. Trump called the circuit a “disgrace” and its judges “very unfair.”

The regulations were put in place in part to stop what the government says are loopholes that allow thousands of people to avoid deportation. DHS estimates around 70,000 people a year claim asylum after crossing illegally. But illegal crossings overall are well below historical highs from previous decades.

Tigar’s ruling notes that federal law says someone may seek asylum if they have arrived in the United States, “whether or not at a designated port of arrival.”

“Individuals are entitled to asylum if they cross between ports of entry,” said Baher Azmy, a lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which sued the government alongside the American Civil Liberties Union. “It couldn’t be clearer.”

Around 3,000 people from the first of the caravans have arrived in Tijuana, Mexico, across the border from San Diego. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Monday that it closed off northbound traffic for several hours at the San Ysidro crossing to install movable, wire-topped barriers after reports that some migrants were planning to rush through the lanes — but none did.