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From The President’s Desk

Tightening the Border

U.S. asylum applications are up 200% in 5 years – the highest level in 2 decades.

Now, as a caravan of immigrants makes its way through Mexico toward the U.S., the Trump Administration has a new plan.

BUT IS IT LEGAL?

From The President’s Desk

Crossings Crackdown

  • WHAT: Immigrants who cross the border illegally will be stripped of their eligibility to receive asylum in the U.S., according to new rules.
  • WHY: To discourage asylum seekers from attempting to enter the U.S.
  • HOW: President Trump is expected to announce it Friday, invoking extraordinary national security powers.
From The President’s Desk

Why It Matters

  • Currently under federal law, immigrants are able to apply for asylum no matter if they cross legally – or illegally.
  • U.S. has backlog of more than 300K cases pending in immigration court, only 20% of applicants are approved.
  • Asylum seekers used to wait 60 days for a hearing, but now it can take 2-5 years
From The President’s Desk

“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.”

DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Acting Attorney General Matthew G. Whitaker in a joint statement Thursday.
From The President’s Desk

“U.S. law specifically allows individuals to apply for asylum whether or not they are at a port of entry. It is illegal to circumvent that by agency or presidential decree.”

Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, setting up a legal challenge in the courts due to federal protections that allow anyone fleeing fear of persecution over their race, religion, nationality, political option or social group to seek asylum.
From The President's Desk

The caravan of several thousand people is still hundreds of miles from the border near Mexico City. El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are among the top countries for asylum seekers in U.S. - the most applicants approved come from China.

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