According to a new report, Trump is about to make some big changes to how asylum works and it will have a huge impact on Central Americans who keep flooding to our border:
POLITICO – President Donald Trump is considering sweeping restrictions on asylum that would effectively block Central American migrants from entering the U.S., according to several administration officials and advocates briefed on the plan.
A draft proposal circulating among Trump’s Homeland Security advisers would prohibit migrants from seeking asylum if they have transited through a country other than their own before coming to the U.S., according to a DHS official and an outside advocate familiar with the plan. If executed, it would deny asylum to thousands of migrants waiting just south of the border, many of whom have trekked a perilous journey through Mexico.
If I’m reading this right, it sounds like it would force people who want asylum to apply for it in their country. And that would have a big impact on all of these migrants using Mexico as a welcome mat.
Trump mentioned he was doing something big this morning but he didn’t say what exactly…
Trump alluded to the asylum changes Thursday as he departed for Colorado, telling reporters he is “going to do something very dramatic on the border.”
“I would say my biggest statement” on the border, the president said. Trump added he would not be closing the border as he has threatened numerous times, but would make an announcement about the people crossing it.
“This is a big league statement,” Trump said. “I’m not closing the border, I’m doing something else.”
Trump plans to do this via an administrative rule, but they are also pushing Congress to make this change.
While Trump aides believe they can make the changes through an administrative rule, they are also seeking a legislative fix that would be far less vulnerable to a court challenge.
I’m not sure of all the implications of this policy, but it does sounds like something I can get behind.
The crisis at the border is out of control and must dealt with. Clearly Congress is more worried about impeaching Trump than dealing with this catastrophe and if Trump can accomplish this legally through administrative rules, I’d be fine with that.