The White House is expected to block all asylum requests from the Central American migrant caravan making its way toward the United States border. The administration announced Thursday that President Donald Trump will block such refugees and other illegal immigrants planning on slithering the U.S.-Mexico border.
The White House is expected to issue a proclamation Friday that would let Trump lean on his national security powers and trigger a new policy that allows the country to refuse asylum claims unless people come through official border crossings.
In short, it's an effort to curb illegal crossings and encourage all immigrants and refugees to take the legal path into the country.
"Those who enter the country between ports of entry — i.e. illegally — are knowingly and voluntarily breaking the law," a senior administration official told reporters. "While all immigration laws do afford people various forms of protection, the reality is that it's a violation of federal law to enter our country in the manner that these illegal aliens are entering the country."
Those who try to enter the United States illegally do it by treking Mexico and making their way through a wall or fence, swimming the Rio Grande, risk trespassing onto private land or make it via vehicle are those most at risk. The Trump administration looks to plug all paths in these journeys, which infuriates the American Civil Liberties Union, which calls this policy illegal.
"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," ACLU lawyer Omar Jadwat told the Washington TImes.
The report goes on to say many of the asylum seekers are looking to reunite with family, along with those fleeing violence and corruption within their native countries.
