Washington (CNN) A federal judge in California on Friday left in place a nationwide injunction that blocks the President's asylum restrictions from going into effect.

Judge Jon S. Tigar of the US District Court for the Northern District of California said the government had not shown that the President's policy "is a lawful exercise of Executive Branch authority."

Lawyers for the Department of Justice had asked Tigar to lift his temporary restraining order -- issued November 19 -- while the appeals process plays out.

But Tigar refused to do so, holding that the government had failed to convince him that asylum seekers with legitimate claims would not suffer "significant harms" due to the new policy.

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