Trump's New Asylum Plan Is the Biggest Threat to Migrants Yet
President Donald Trump’s promised sweep of “millions” of undocumented immigrants across the United States failed to materialize over the weekend, but the issuance of stringent restrictions on access to the U.S. asylum system on Monday could pose an even greater risk to those fleeing violence and persecution in Central America.
In a joint statement issued by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, the administration notified the public that it will publish an interim final rule adding “a new bar to eligibility for asylum for an alien who enters or attempts to enter the United States across the southern border.”
The rule, apparently targeting the massive influx of asylum seekers from Central America, would prevent almost every migrant from pursuing an asylum claim in the United States if they did not first apply for asylum protections in the country or countries through which they traveled on their way to the U.S. border.