The Trump administration is considering a travel-ban executive order to block asylum seekers at the southern border as a caravan of thousands of Central American migrants make their way to through Mexico to the U.S.
Source familiar with the discussions told the San Francisco Chronicle Thursday that the proposal is not yet finalized and may not be implemented.
The possible executive action would use the same legal authority that Trump used last year when he imposed a national security-based ban against people traveling to the U.S. from Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.
“The administration is considering a wide range of administrative, legal and legislative options to address the Democrat-created crisis of mass illegal immigration,” a White House official said, according to the Chronicle. “No decisions have been made at this time. Nor will we forecast to smugglers or caravans what precise strategies will or will not be deployed.”
Sources say the plan could involve the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security imposing a rule that would limit immigrants who seek asylum from a certain population. Trump would then be able to target the 7,000-member caravan making its way to the U.S., they said.
The ban would likely be justified under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows the president to ban certain classes of immigrants when deemed “detrimental to the interest of the United States.”
Trump’s third version of a travel ban was upheld last June by the Supreme Court.
