Donald Trump invoked extraordinary national security powers to limit asylum protections for migrants | CBC News

U.S. President Donald Trump listens to a question as he speaks to the media before boarding Marine One at the White House. (Evan Vucci/Associated Press)

US President Donald Trump has signed a declaration to limit asylum protections for migrants. Likewise, he invoked extraordinary powers of national security to deny asylum to migrants who enter the country illegally, tightening the border as the caravans of Central Americans slowly approach the United States.

While the US president was preparing to address Paris due to the G20 summit, he declared “We need people in our country, but they have to come legally and they have to have merit”.

Similarly, Trump is using the same powers he used to impose a version of the travel ban that was confirmed by the Supreme Court, but it is important to mention that it was his third attempt after the courts rejected previous versions. Likewise, the proclamation puts into effect the regulations adopted on Thursday that circumvents the laws that establish that any person is eligible for asylum, regardless of how he or she enters the country.

For their part, administration officials said that those who were denied asylum under the proclamation may be eligible for similar forms of protection if they fear to return to their countries, although they would be subject to a tougher threshold. These forms of protection include “withholding of expulsion”, which is similar to asylum, but which does not permit obtaining residence cards or to families or asylum under the United Nations Convention against Torture.

Meanwhile, ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt said: “The president is simply trying to ignore the decision of Congress to provide asylum to those who are in danger, regardless of how it is entered”.

Likewise, the containment of immigration has been a matter of signature for Trump, who pressed him hard in the days leading up to the partial elections on Tuesday, criticizing the caravans that are still hundreds of kilometers from the border as an imminent “invasion”. Similarly, it is important to mention that migrants who cross illegally are usually arrested and often seek asylum or some other form of protection. Claims have skyrocketed in recent years, and there is a backlog of more than 800,000 pending cases in immigration court, with a waiting time that can be almost two years.

Read more.

Source: CBC News