Washington DC - A federal judge on Tuesday overturned President Joe Biden's 10-week-old asylum policy, rejecting the heart of the administration's effort to restrict migration across the southern border.

Judge Jon Tigar of San Francisco said the policy to force asylum seekers to apply for admission to the United States from their home countries or from countries they pass through on the way was "unlawful."

Tigar, though, immediately suspended his ruling for 14 days to give the Biden administration time to appeal it.

The Justice Department said that it disagreed with the ruling and would appeal and, in the meantime, seek a longer stay on its implementation.

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The department said in a statement that it is confident that the rules the Biden administration put in place in May are "a lawful exercise of the broad authority granted by the immigration laws."

The ruling came in a case brought by the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant and other migrant advocacy groups after the Biden administration announced on May 16 its new approach, aimed at stemming the up to 200,000 migrants trying to cross the southern border each month.

They argued that the Biden policy effectively presumes asylum ineligibility for those at the border.