Friday, November 09, 2018

TRUMP STUMPS CARAVAN: DOJ, DHS MOVE TO RESTRICT ASYLUM ELIGIBILITY FOR ILLEGALS

The DOJ and DHS announced new policies Thursday restricting illegal aliens from asylum eligibility.

In an Interim Final Rule announced by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, the Trump administration was granted broad authority to block asylum claims for people who violate US immigration laws.

“Consistent with our immigration laws, the President has the broad authority to suspend or restrict the entry of aliens into the United States if he determines it to be in the national interest to do so,” Whitaker and Nielsen said in a joint statement.

“Today’s rule applies this important principle to aliens who violate such a suspension or restriction regarding the southern border imposed by the President by invoking an express authority provided by Congress to restrict eligibility for asylum. Our asylum system is overwhelmed with too many meritless asylum claims from aliens who place a tremendous burden on our resources, preventing us from being able to expeditiously grant asylum to those who truly deserve it. Today, we are using the authority granted to us by Congress to bar aliens who violate a Presidential suspension of entry or other restriction from asylum eligibility.”

A Justice Department press release cites a section from the Immigration and Nationality Act which state the attorney general “may provide by regulation for any other conditions or limitations on the consideration of an application for asylum.”

The administration is hoping the new rules will encourage people planning on entering the US illegally to instead use ports of entry where can be formally processed.

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