USA seeks to deny asylum to migrants who transit through Mexico

[Akrapovic]

Deported migrants place their belongings in white bags through the Puente Nuevo border crossing at the Matamoros border crossing (Mexico). The daily arrival of a hundred Mexican deportees from the United States to the city of Matamoros anticipates the possible arrival of more people Photo: EFE

The White House took a step on Monday to reject asylum for foreigners entering the United States through the southern border through Mexico, in a new attempt to stop the flow of migrants arriving in the country.

The new regulation "uses the authority delegated by Congress in (...) the Migration Law to improve the integrity of the asylum process by placing more restrictions or limitations on the eligibility of foreigners seeking asylum in the United States," said the Department of Justice in a statement.

In context: There is alert among migrants for the beginning of raids in the US. UU

The limitations, aimed at those seeking to reach the United States from Mexico, will have three exceptions: foreigners who demonstrate that they applied for asylum in at least one country and their petition was ultimately denied; who enter the definition of "victims of a serious form of human trafficking"; and those who have traveled on their way to the United States from countries that are not part of the 1951 Refugee Convention or the 1965 Protocol.

Called the final provisional regulation, the regulation enters into force on Tuesday but may undergo subsequent modifications after its publication on Monday.

Powered by the White House, it is aimed at the hundreds of thousands of migrants from Central America and other countries who try to cross into the United States through the border with Mexico to seek asylum once in US territory.

"The United States is a generous country, but it is completely overwhelmed by the burden associated with the detention and trial of hundreds of thousands of foreigners detained on the southern border," said Attorney General Bill Barr.

According to Barr, this will "discourage economic migrants seeking to exploit" the asylum system for the United States.

In June, more than 100,000 people were arrested after crossing the southern border irregularly. These figures represent a fall of 28% compared to May, but are well above the 43,000 arrests registered a year ago.