WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has said that his administration plans to place new limits on those who can ask for asylum as the US military builds tents along the southern border to hold people who cross the border illegally.
Only migrants who seek to enter the United States as legal ports of entry will be allowed to claim asylum, he said. Those who cross illegally will be held until deportation.
Trump made the announcement during a speech in the Roosevelt Room of the White House five days before American voters decide who controls the houses of Congress.
Trump called immigration at the southern border with Mexico a crisis, specifically calling attention to a group of Central American migrants walking north through Mexico, some of whom said they intend to seek asylum in the United States. The president, who has repeatedly referred to the group of migrants as a caravan, told them to immediately turn around, accusing them of fraudulent asylum claims.
“We will not allow our generosity to be abused by those who would break our laws, defy our rules, violate our borders, break into our country illegally. We won’t allow it,” the president said.
Trump said he intends to end the release portion of what he called the United States’ catch and release programme, in which migrants who cross the border illegally and seek asylum are arrested and then released into the country pending a court date.
Earlier this week, the Department of Defence ordered 5,200 US troops to deploy to the border with Mexico ahead of the arrival of the group of Central American migrants who were more than 800 miles from the nearest point of entry in McAllen, Texas, on Thursday. On Wednesday, Trump said the number of troops could increase to 10,000 to 15,000, on par with the 14,000 deployed to Afghanistan.
Last week, the Mexican government offered temporary residency and work permits to migrants who agreed to stay in southern states. Trump, meanwhile, threatened to cut aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador for allowing the migrants to leave their countries.
