Thread: ASYLUM IN THE CROSSHAIRS

Asylum in the crosshairs

By TED HESSON 07/19/2018 10:00 AM EDT

With help from Ian Kullgren, Andrew Hanna and RenukaRayasam

ASYLUM IN THE CROSSHAIRS: The Trump administration has considered ending the ability of immigrants to seek asylum at “ports of entry” along the border, Caitlin Dickerson reports in the New York Times. The move would be one of the administration’s most radical steps to date to stop the flow of migrants into the U.S.

“Introduced this spring by members of [CBP leadership], according to a government official with direct knowledge of the plan, it would allow hopeful refugees to apply for protection only from abroad, stranding them for much longer in the conditions they hope to escape,” Dickerson reports.

From abroad, prospective migrants presumably would need to apply for safe haven through the refugee program. But President DonaldTrump reduced the ceiling for that program to 45,000 in fiscal year 2018, a historically low level. And his administration has been on pace to admit far fewer refugees, according to advocates.

Turning away refugees at the border would contradict the message, put forward by DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in recent months, that instead of attempting to cross the border illegally, asylum seekers should seek safe haven at ports of entry. “If you have a claim, you have children, you're concerned for your life, go to a port of entry,” she said at a May subcommittee hearing. “You'll be processed.” Not anymore you won’t (if this policy is adopted).

Melanie Nezer, a senior vice president with the refugee agency HIAS, told Morning Shift such a move “would upend decades of asylum laws” developed after the world’s failure to protect refugees during World War II. “In addition to being illegal, it would diminish our country,” she said. DHS and CBP did not respond to a request for comment.

But the clampdown would be of a piece with recent administration moves to restrict asylum access. USCIS announced last week guidance that generally excludes domestic violence and other“private criminal activity” as a grounds to seek asylum.

The guidance implemented a June decision by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and will make it harder for Central Americans to seek refuge in the U.S. Read more from theTimes here.

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-shift/2018/07/19/asylum-in-the-crosshairs-284553

YES...MAKE IT EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY!!!

THEY NEED TO APPLY ON THEIR SOIL...EXTREMELY VETTED, NO DISEASES PRIOR TO COMING HERE!

DO NOT SHOW UP AT OUR PORTS OF ENTRY...TURN THEM AWAY! WE CANNOT LET IN 2 BILLION PEOPLE ON THE PLANET AND THEIR CHILDREN!

DROP THE NUMBERS TO 1,000 PER YEAR!

STOP FORCING U.S. TAXPAYERS TO TAKE IN EVERY PERSON ON THE PLANET!

STOP FORCING US TO PAY TO FLY THEM IN AND FLY THEM BACK OUT OF HERE!

STOP ALLOWING THEM ENTRY INTO OUR COUNTRY!

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS DO NOT QUALIFY! DO NOT SHOW UP ON OUR DOORSTEP! DO NOT FORCE US TO PAY FOR THEIR PLANE TICKET HOME!

BETTER YET...TERMINATE AND DEFUD THE ENTIRE REFUGEE, TPS AND ASYLUM PROGRAMS!