The US has reached a deal with Mexico forcing asylum-seeking migrants to wait in Mexico before coming to the US.
Migrants heading to the southwest border to seek asylum in the United States will have to wait in Mexico until their claims are processed, under an agreement between the two countries announced on Thursday that will affect tens of thousands of people each month.
Only about 9 percent of people are actually granted asylum. The Trump administration says too many migrants make false claims.
“They will not be able to disappear into the United States,†Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said on Thursday in remarks before the House Judiciary Committee. “They will have to wait for approval. If they are granted asylum by a U.S. judge, they will be welcomed into America. If they are not, they will be removed to their home countries.â€
Discussions on the arrangement have been going on between the two countries for months, well before the new leadership took over in Mexico on Dec. 1. On Thursday, the Mexican foreign ministry said Mexico had agreed to it on a temporary basis for humanitarian reasons, and it would affect those “who entered that country or had been apprehended at border entry points, and who have been interviewed by that country’s immigration authorities and who have received a court date to appear before an immigration judge.â€
This is a huge win for President Trump. If migrants are going to be forced to wait in Mexico while their Asylum claims are being processed then Mexico would be far less likely to allow these people to come into there own country in the first place.
Government data shows 90% of Asylum claims are fake.
