Trump Moves to End U.S. Asylum for Central American Migrants
Trump Moves to End U.S. Asylum for Central American Migrants
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump moved to end asylum protections for most Central American migrants who cross the U.S. southern border as he steps up his crackdown on immigration.
Migrants who fail to apply for protection from persecution or torture while in a third country before entering the U.S. would be ineligible for asylum, under a rule set to be published Tuesday in the Federal Register by the Trump administration.
“The large number of meritless asylum claims places an extraordinary strain on the nation’s immigration system,” according to the notice. It also said the claims undermine “humanitarian purposes of asylum” and have worsened human smuggling.
Trump has focused on cracking down on undocumented immigration -- one of his signature issues -- for weeks as his 2020 re-election campaign gets underway. He prodded Mexico to take steps to block migrants from crossing into the U.S. after threatening the country with tariffs on goods last month.
Trump dropped plans for tariffs after a June 7 agreement with Mexico that called for its authorities to take new steps to prevent migrants from entering the U.S. Trump has said Mexico has done “an outstanding job.”
Reversing Course
The president’s new move, which affects migrants from any country traveling through Mexico, reverses the U.S.’s decades-old approach on asylum. It comes as the administration faces heavy criticism from Democrats and immigration rights groups over the treatment of children and other immigrants in detention facilities on the border.
Democrats denounced Trump’s approach. “The president is devastating lives, dishonoring our values and departing from decades of precedent and law in his haste to destroy the lifeline of asylum in America,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. “This cruel new asylum rule perfectly showcases the Administration’s utter disdain and disregard for immigrant communities and communities of color.”
The new policy is sure to attract legal challenges, as have many of the administration’s earlier plans to limit asylum. While the notice asserts that the policy complies with U.S. law, Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the Immigrants’ Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement that it’s “patently unlawful and we will sue swiftly.”
“The Trump administration is trying to unilaterally reverse our country’s legal and moral commitment to protect those fleeing danger,” Gelernt said.
The Trump administration said there’s been a sharp increase in migrants claiming fear of persecution or torture when caught by U.S. authorities.
“Only a small minority of these individuals, however, are ultimately granted asylum,” according to the notice.
The U.S. granted asylum to 26,568 individuals in 2017, an increase of 31% from the year before, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The top countries from which those people came to the U.S. were China, El Salvador and Guatemala.
The rule allows for some exceptions. A claim can still be filed in the U.S. if a migrant’s application was denied in another country en route to the U.S. Also, applications would be allowed for victims of “a severe form of trafficking” and those who travel to the U.S. through countries that aren’t party to an international treaty on refugees.
Kevin McAleenan, the acting secretary of Homeland Security, said in a statement that asylum is “a discretionary benefit” offered by the U.S. to those “fleeing persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.”
Mexico plans to maintain its current policies on asylum, said the country’s foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard. Mexico hasn’t agreed to be a “safe third country” that would process paperwork for asylum seekers to prevent them from applying in the U.S., he said.
The administration said last week that the number of people caught illegally crossing into the U.S. or turned away at the Mexican border dropped to 104,000 in June, compared to 144,000 a month earlier.
Still, it’s not clear how much of the decrease can be attributed to hotter temperatures versus Mexican law enforcement efforts along migration routes. The number of migrants apprehended in June was still more than double the same time a year ago.
Starting Sunday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents began raids reportedly targeting 2,000 undocumented immigrants in the U.S. On Monday, Trump declined to say how many people were taken into custody.
“The ICE raids were very successful,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Many were felons. Many were convicted of crimes.”
--With assistance from Josh Wingrove and Andrea Navarro.
To contact the reporter on this story: Margaret Talev in Washington at mtalev@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Larry Liebert
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