The Trump administration announced new actions that will restrict the ability of migrants to seek asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The new executive actions were announced Thursday afternoon by Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
“Our asylum system is overwhelmed with too many meritless asylum claims from aliens who place a tremendous burden on our resources, preventing us from being able to expeditiously grant asylum to those who truly deserve it,” Whitaker, who assumed his role at the Justice Department on Wednesday after the firing of Jeff Sessions, said in a statement.
The new interim rule applies to prospective presidential proclamations, and is not retroactive.
President Trump has continually blamed U.S. asylum rules for spurring thousands of Central American migrants to come to the country. Immigration became a key focus in Tuesday’s midterm elections in part by Trump’s continued remarks about an incoming caravan of Central American migrants.
The new asylum restrictions won’t take effect until Trump issues a proclamation, according to the rule — which is expected from the president on Friday.
Under the rule, migrants who want to seek asylum will have to do so at official ports of entry at the U.S.-Mexico border.
It is only there “where they would be processed in a controlled, orderly, and lawful manner,” the rule says.
Currently, the U.S. allows for a migrant to apply for asylum regardless of how he or she enters the country — at a port of entry or illegally.
The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act states that any foreigner who arrives in the U.S. “whether or not at a designated port of arrival” may apply for asylum, and a United Nations treaty signed by the U.S. in 1951 mandates that a refugee has the right to seek asylum from persecution from his or her home country.
International and American groups criticized the plan within hours of the announcement. During the Obama administration, the Democratic president took executive action that affected immigration levels, Republicans viewed as a violation of the 1965 act because only Congress can set those levels.
Nielsen and Whitaker issued a joint statement after the announcement stating Trump’s action were legal.
“Consistent with our immigration laws, the President has the broad authority to suspend or restrict the entry of aliens into the United States if he determines it to be in the national interest to do so,” the statement said.
The rule, posted in the Federal Register, includes a blank space where Sessions’ signature would have gone.
Supporting Trump’s hard-line immigration policies as attorney general was one of Sessions’ biggest accomplishments before his ouster this week.
The bar for asylum seekers in the U.S. had already been tightened by Sessions earlier this year.
In June, Sessions released guidance that said illegal immigrants who seek refuge in the U.S. from domestic or gang violence will no longer qualify for automatic asylum.
The rule states that Trump can use his authority under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to declare certain migrants ineligible for asylum because of “national interests in matters that could have significant implications for the foreign affairs of the United States.”
That is how Trump asserted his 2017 “travel ban” against foreigners from certain Muslim-majority countries was allowed.
Nielsen said 4 in 5 asylum seekers at the southwest border do not meet the criteria to enter the United States.
The new interim rule can be found here.
Anna Giaritelli contributed to this report.
