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 resided in 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.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."
The White House did not respond to questions about the president’s remarks but two people familiar with the proposal said he was referring to asylum changes.
Immigration advocates familiar with the proposal expressed alarm at its scope, even as they questioned whether it would hold up in court. U.S. law allows refugees to request asylum when they arrive on U.S. soil but has long included an exemption for those who have already emigrated to a safe country.
While the details are still in flux, many migrants have been held up by Trump‘s “remain in Mexico” policy that forces asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their asylum requests are pending.
“It’s unbelievably extreme to try to inhibit anyone who comes through another country in their quest for asylum,” said Kerri Talbot, the federal advocacy director for Immigration Hub, an advocacy group for migrants. “It basically means it would block all central Americans for coming to the U.S.”
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. Similar language is expected to be included in Trump’s new immigration bill that would boost security at the southern border and push the nation to admit more high-skilled, well-educated immigrants, rather than immigrants who enter the U.S. based on family ties, according to two people familiar with the proposal.
White House staff, including Ja’Ron Smith and Theodore Wold — both special assistants to the president for domestic policy — briefed Republican senators on the proposed legislation Wednesday at the Capitol, according to a person familiar with the meeting. The White House expects to release the legislation in the coming days, but did not respond to requests for comment.
Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which has pushed to restrict asylum claims, said the administration has been looking for ways to make the changes for some time.
“People don’t have a right to pick and choose where they ask for asylum,” he said.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine