Immigration

Yes, every caravan migrant has the right to claim asylum

By Anna Giaritelli
Published May 2, 2018 10:20pm ET
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Yes, every caravan migrant has the right to claim asylum
Central American migrants traveling with a caravan gather at the border wall, some sitting on top of it, look toward the U.S. from Mexico during a gathering of migrants living on both sides of the border, on the beach where the border wall ends in the ocean, in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, April 29, 2018. U.S. immigration lawyers are telling Central Americans in a caravan of asylum-seekers that traveled through Mexico to the border with San Diego that they face possible separation from their children and detention for many months. They say they want to prepare them for the worst possible outcome. | (Hans-Maximo Musielik/AP)

Every migrant who traveled to the U.S. border as part of the Central American caravan has a right under U.S. immigration laws to claim asylum before Customs and Border Protection officers, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed Wednesday, despite President Trump’s call to keep them away from the border.

“We have a legal obligation to hear their asylum requests … and to process these folks in accordance with the law. However, that doesn’t mean we can process all in a day,” a DHS spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.

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Tag:

Asylum and Refugees Border Central America Department of Homeland Security Department of Justice Donald Trump