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View Full Version : New policy will force migrants seeking asylum to wait in Mexico — for years




Swordsmyth
12-20-2018, 11:41 PM
In the administration’s latest effort to clamp down on immigration from Central America, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced Thursday that, effective immediately, asylum-seekers presenting themselves at the southern border will be returned to Mexico for the duration of their immigration proceedings, a process that often takes several years.

At present, migrants who arrive seeking asylum at a recognized port of entry may have to wait in Mexico several weeks, or longer, before their initial processing by immigration officials, but if they are deemed to have a credible claim they often are paroled into the United States until they are called for a hearing. Now they will be sent back across the border to wait.
At a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, Nielsen implied the new policy would not apply to minors who arrive unaccompanied to seek asylum. In response to a question, she said border officials will continue to adhere to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA), which mandates that unaccompanied immigrant children from noncontiguous countries (i.e. anywhere other than Mexico or Canada) must be allowed into the country (https://www.yahoo.com/news/democratic-loopholes-white-house-blames-border-crisis-151819764.html) and transferred into the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services within 72 hours of being apprehended at the border.
But it’s not clear that law is being followed even now. Immigration advocates and legal service providers have reported that (https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18104676/asylum-border-trump-children), at least in Tijuana, Mexican officials have been blocking unaccompanied children (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-court/us-judge-blocks-trump-asylum-restrictions-idUSKCN1NO1E6) from accessing the official U.S. ports of entry to request asylum and preventing them from getting their names on the lengthy list of migrants waiting to do the same.

DHS officials also stated that the new rules would not apply to Mexican citizens attempting to seek asylum, as both U.S. and international law prevents the immediate return of asylum seekers to their home countries if they express a fear of persecution. But that policy also seems to be implemented haphazardly. Yahoo News recently reported (https://news.yahoo.com/take-number-migrants-blocked-border-wait-turn-apply-asylum-210835939.html) that metering procedures in Juarez have forced Mexican citizens requesting asylum to wait in Mexico before being allowed to request asylum in the U.S.


Under existing U.S. policy, (https://news.yahoo.com/incredible-fear-change-u-s-asylum-policy-hurts-victims-violence-090003801.html) migrants who establish a “credible fear” of persecution or torture if returned to their home countries are generally released to a sponsor in the U.S., often monitored with an ankle bracelet, while they wait to make their claim before an immigration judge. Because of a massive backlog of cases, this process often takes several years.
President Trump has long fumed about what he calls “catch and release” policies, and for several weeks, U.S. officials have been attempting to negotiate a deal with the Mexican government to keep migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. on the southern side of the border while their cases are pending. Under the measures announced Thursday, DHS officials said that migrants who request asylum at U.S. ports of entry will now be given a notice to appear in immigration court and sent back to Mexico until their hearings.
While the Mexican Foreign Ministry confirmed Thursday that it had agreed to grant humanitarian visas to asylum seekers forced to wait in their country while seeking protections in the U.S., DHS officials made clear to reporters that the decision was made unilaterally, not in agreement with the Mexican government.
Speaking on background, one DHS official said, “We are pleased that once we formally made our decision, [Mexican authorities indicated] they will take on their side of border all appropriate measures to deal with our decision.”

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/new-policy-will-force-migrants-seeking-asylum-wait-mexico-years-222904919.html