The White House issued a statement Friday evening condemning a federal court ruling that blocked the administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), known colloquially as the remain in Mexico policy.

MPP, which has been in effect since January 2019, requires asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases are heard. The injunction handed down by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday will be in effect while a legal challenge to the administration's role plays out.

The White House called the ruling “another reckless nationwide injunction threatening our constitutional structure.”

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The ruling comes a week after the Supreme Court allowed the administration’s “public charge rule” to go into effect after a similar injunction was put on that policy, which penalizes legal immigrants for seeking public assistance. On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a pair of cases challenging the government's expedited deportation procedures.

The White House claims that “by any measure, MPP has been hugely successful, including by reducing burdens on United States communities and easing the humanitarian crisis on the Southern border.”

The statement went on to claim that the ruling could put the nation’s health at risk in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

“If today’s ruling is allowed to stand, these successes will be reversed, which threatens to flood the Nation’s immigration system, present unchecked coronavirus entry risk, deeply damage our positive relationship with the Government of Mexico and other regional partners, and reignite the humanitarian and security crisis at the border,” the statement added.

As of Friday evening there are more cases of coronavirus in the U.S. than in Mexico or all of Latin America combined. There is no evidence that suggests immigrants are particularly susceptible to contracting or transmitting the disease. The cases that exist in the U.S. are predominantly from American citizens who caught the disease while abroad and were repatriated and quarantined.

The White House has yet to announce how the Department of Justice will respond to the ruling.

“We remain committed to using every lawful means necessary to secure the border, and we are considering all available legal options to seek further review of this decision,” the statement added. “In the meantime, all lawful efforts will be undertaken to prevent the illegal entry of any foreign nationals.”