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Trump immigration plans: Supreme Court approves asylum curbs | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
The US Supreme Court has given the go-ahead to Trump administration plans that severely limit the ability of migrants to claim asylum. | The US Supreme Court has given the go-ahead to Trump administration plans that severely limit the ability of migrants to claim asylum. |
Under the rule, people arriving via a third country must claim asylum there first before arriving at the US border. | Under the rule, people arriving via a third country must claim asylum there first before arriving at the US border. |
Legal challenges against it continue but the ruling means for now it can be enforced nationwide. | Legal challenges against it continue but the ruling means for now it can be enforced nationwide. |
The plan will affect migrants from Central America who travel north, often on foot, through Mexico. | |
The Trump administration unveiled the new asylum policy in July but it was almost immediately blocked from taking effect by a lower court ruling by a judge in San Francisco. | |
There has been a legal tussle over his block since but the decision issued on Wednesday will temporarily delay his rulings and allow the policy to come into effect. | |
Curbing migration levels has been a key goal of Donald Trump's presidency and forms a major part of his bid for re-election in 2020. | |
What will the changes mean? | |
The change will affect non-Mexican migrants trying to enter through the US southern border. | |
This includes, but is not limited to, those from Central American countries who have made up the vast majority of those seeking asylum so far this year. | |
Of the 424,000 family members arrested on the south-western border up until August 2019 almost 419,831 were from Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua and only 4,312 were from Mexico, border patrol data show. | |
Many of those arriving are fleeing violence or poverty and travel north through Mexico until they reach the US border. Upon arrival, they must pass a "credible fear" interview to seek asylum in the US. | |
The rule change means they would fail had they not claimed asylum in another country they had first passed through. | |
The American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the ruling, argued it drastically limited those eligible for asylum. | The American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the ruling, argued it drastically limited those eligible for asylum. |
"The current ban would eliminate virtually all asylum at the southern border, even at ports of entry, for everyone except Mexicans," it said in a petition. | "The current ban would eliminate virtually all asylum at the southern border, even at ports of entry, for everyone except Mexicans," it said in a petition. |
A lawyer for the group described the ruling as a "temporary step" and said it remained confident at challenging the change. | |
"The lives of thousands of families are at stake," Lee Gelerent said. | |
Anyone who has been rejected by a third country or is a victim of human trafficking can still apply. | Anyone who has been rejected by a third country or is a victim of human trafficking can still apply. |
Trump's 'big win' | |
Analysis by David Willis, LA correspondent, BBC News | |
Facing a surge in asylum claims by Central American and other migrants who have been crossing the southern US border in record numbers, the Trump administration has been desperate to clamp down. | |
In July the President announced new rules restricting asylum applications from migrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. | |
That move was immediately challenged in the lower courts, and it may come back to the Supreme Court once ongoing legal challenges have been completed. | |
But for now the president has something to celebrate - on Twitter he hailed the decision as a Big Win. | |
Why is this controversial? | Why is this controversial? |
The rule change overturns long-standing convention that the US hears asylum claims no matter how people have arrived at the border. | |
On the nine-judge Supreme Court, liberal-leaning Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the ruling. | |
"Once again the Executive Branch has issued a rule that seeks to upend longstanding practices regarding refugees who seek shelter from persecution," Justice Sotomayor wrote. | "Once again the Executive Branch has issued a rule that seeks to upend longstanding practices regarding refugees who seek shelter from persecution," Justice Sotomayor wrote. |
The route to the US is dangerous, with Central American migrants often deliberately sought out by gangs in neighbouring countries because they are vulnerable. | The route to the US is dangerous, with Central American migrants often deliberately sought out by gangs in neighbouring countries because they are vulnerable. |
There are questions over whether Mexico and Guatemala can cope with a surge in asylum claimants. | There are questions over whether Mexico and Guatemala can cope with a surge in asylum claimants. |
Mexican officials, who have been working to crack down on migration, have already pushed back strongly against the plan. | |
Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard reiterated that Mexico would not become a "third country" for US-bound asylum seekers. | |
The Mexican president, Andres Manuel Labrador, earlier on Wednesday posted an image of himself on the phone to President Trump. | |
They are yet to publicly comment on the Supreme Court's latest ruling - which is the second in favour of Mr Trump's migration plans so far this year. | |
In July the nation's top court ruled Mr Trump can use $2.5bn (£2bn) of Pentagon funds for his long-promised southern border wall. |