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People are lining up to enter the United States and begin the process of applying for asylum near the San Ysidro entry port in Tijuana, Mexico. President Trump has threatened to close the border to asylum seekers.
Gregory Bull / AP
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Gregory Bull / AP
People are lining up to enter the United States and begin the process of applying for asylum near the San Ysidro entry port in Tijuana, Mexico. President Trump has threatened to close the border to asylum seekers.
Gregory Bull / AP
Just days before the mid-term elections, President Trump continues to develop his rhetoric on immigration. The last target of the president is that of asylum seekers, whom he accuses of exploiting the "loopholes" of US immigration laws.
In a White House televised speech Thursday, Trump threatened to close the Southwest border to asylum seekers – including the last group of Central American migrants en route to Mexico – unless that they do not show up at the official entry points.
But refugee and asylum experts say his plan would violate US law. According to them, the president's remarks about the asylum were fraught with errors and misleading statements intended to stir up fear of immigrants and to push the president's supporters to the polls.
We will focus on five statements that President Trump made Thursday in the Roosevelt Room.
1. A massive influx
"The current influx, if it's not interrupted, threatens to overwhelm our immigration system and our communities, and poses an unacceptable danger to the entire nation."
The total number of apprehended migrants on the south-western border actually decreased slightly last year, reaching about 521,000, and remains well below the number of people apprehended routinely in the 1990s and 2000s.
However, the Trump administration says the current "crisis" is the result of a major change in the number of people arriving at the border.
A generation ago, the majority of apprehended migrants at the border were unmarried adults, mostly from Mexico, who could be deported rather quickly after being captured. Today, migrants are much more likely to come from Central America.
Last year, a record number of apprehended migrants were part of the family units. This means that they enjoy greater protection under US law. In practice, many of these asylum seekers are released to the United States to wait for their day in court, which can take months or even years.
2. More "catch and release"
"These policies have resulted in the release of illegal aliens into our communities after their arrest. But we do not do it anymore. A big change, two days ago. We will not do it anymore. We & # 39; we will catch, we will not release. They will stay with us until the expulsion hearing or the asylum hearing. So we do not release them in the community. "
In fact, migrant families who have applied for asylum are not considered illegal immigrants. And they are liberated in large numbers along the border. In El Paso, Texas, Ruben Garcia, director of a local shelter called Annunciation House, told journalist Mallory Falk of the KRWG member station that the shelter had received 332 people released Thursday from the custody to view and expects another 225 friday.
In Arizona, Matthew Casey of the KJZZ member station has been meeting with a Capellania official, Cristiana Llamados Para Servir, an organization working with the churches of Phoenix Metropolis. The official confirmed that the organization is expecting 90 families from two different churches and another 400 Yuma migrants to arrive in Phoenix late this weekend.
These migrant families are usually released to relatives in other parts of the country and will receive a notice of appearance in the immigration court for their asylum hearing.
3. They never show up
"Then they never show up, almost, it's like a 3% level, they never show up for the trial, so at the time of the trial they're gone, nobody knows where they are. . "
In fact, the majority of asylum seekers go to court. According to Justice Department statistics for the 2016 fiscal year, only about 2 in 5 cases were tried in absentia.
Immigrant rights advocates say that the number of asylum seekers who would come forward would be even higher if they had lawyers and court staff allowed them to know when and where to go. They talk about a pilot program that was very successful in bringing immigrants to court before the Trump government canceled it.
4. Abuse of the asylum
"This rampant abuse of the asylum system is changing our immigration system by moving legitimate asylum seekers – and there are some legitimate ones – while rewarding those who abuse or cheat our system, who is almost everyone. "
Immigration lawyers say it's a wild hype. It is true that only a fraction of all asylum applications succeeds. Last year, immigration courts rejected more than 60% of asylum applications, a number that has been steadily increasing since 2012.
The administration argues that the rejection rate is in itself a proof of fraud. But the advocates of immigrant rights dispute this. They argue that immigration courts are supposed to decide each case of asylum on its merits and that the low rate of acceptance is simply evidence that the system works – and that the cases in which they are going to do so are not. asylum are not easy to win.
5. It's an invasion
"Some people call it an invasion, it's like an invasion … These are tough people, in many cases, lots of young men, strong men."
The president has repeatedly stated, without evidence, that the migrants included dangerous criminals and "unknowns from the Middle East".
According to reporters on the ground, migrants include mainly women and children fleeing violence and extreme poverty in Central America. Refugee and asylum experts accuse the president of alarmist rhetoric of rallying his political base in the mid-term elections.
There is a "tragic irony" in describing asylum seekers as an army in raiding, said Karen Musalo, director of the Center for Studies on Gender and Refugees at the University of New York. Cuba. Hastings Law School.
"Individuals gathered to walk in a caravan to the north, as the journey north for asylum seekers was very dangerous," Musalo said in an interview. "They are very vulnerable individuals, desperately fleeing violence, who have come together as a group to protect themselves and to be united."
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