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Nick Miroff
Journalist in charge of immigration, drug trafficking and national security law enforcement
President Trump said Thursday that he intended to take action next week to end the "abuse" of the US asylum system, a plan that could include "towering cities" on the southern border to retain migrants indefinitely and making them more difficult for them. stay in the country.
But Trump gave little detail during his speech at the White House, where he reiterated the unsubstantiated claims he's made in recent weeks, claiming that a caravan of Central American migrants Traveling through Mexico through Mexico was an urgent threat to national security. He described the group, which includes many families with children, as dangerous and an "invasion".
The president's remarks, broadcast live on the cable channels, took place just days before Tuesday's mid-term elections, Trump's latest offer to make immigration the main topic of the campaign.
Trump said the emergency measures he plans to take would protect the United States against what he termed widespread fraud threatening to overwhelm the country's immigration system.
The President gave no legal justification for his plan and swept aside the legality issues of some of the methods he had suggested, such as indefinitely detaining families or refusing migrants a hearing in court of immigration.
Such movements would likely trigger legal challenges from civil rights groups.
Migrants – mainly Hondurans – traveling in a caravan in the United States, board a truck on the road linking La Ventosa to Matias Romero, Oaxaca State, Mexico, on November 1, 2018 (Photo by Guillermo Arias / AFP)
Trump also suggested that the US military at the border could shoot members of the caravan if the migrants threw stones at soldiers.
White House, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice lawyers have been striving in recent weeks to ensure that the President's requests to suspend humanitarian protections comply with US laws that protect the right to privacy. seek refuge on American soil, whatever the nature of this asylum. -seeker arrives.
"These illegal caravans will not be allowed in the United States," said Trump. "They should turn around now. They waste their time. "
DHS has asked the Pentagon to provide up to 8,000 family holding beds at two sites, confirming Thursday Trump's approval of its orders, a Washington Post administration official said Thursday.
The president and his Republican allies have expressed confidence that Trump's uncompromising message on immigration will motivate his conservative base as Republicans try to keep control of Congress. Democrats have accused the president of stirring up public fears about a group of migrant families that has shrunk and remains 800 km from the United States.
"The president's speech was a political act aimed at stirring up fear and xenophobia within days of the election," said in a statement Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), A member of the the internal security of the House, the statement said.
Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU's Immigrant Rights Project, said Trump's lack of political details showed he was "trying to ignite his base at the halfway point."
[[[[Trump is considering a plan to ban the entry of migrants to the southern border and deny asylum]
Trump promised a new executive order after authorizing more than 7,000 troops to deploy in US-Mexico border security operations, the largest deployment of active peacekeeping troops in nearly a century. .
In his remarks, Trump congratulated the troops who, according to the Pentagon, would play a supporting role in helping US border patrol agents, who have the legal authority to make arrests.
Trump claimed that Mexican soldiers were "seriously injured" during clashes with a second group of migrants at the Guatemalan border last Sunday. "They are difficult people. In many cases, you have young men, strong men, "said Trump.
But the Mexican forces were the federal police, not the troops, and no serious injuries were reported. When asked if the US military would use lethal force, Trump suggested that troops would be forced to respond to violent clashes.
"They want to throw stones at our soldiers, our military is defending itself," said Trump. "We will examine – and I told them to consider this as a rifle."
A Pentagon spokesman declined to say how the military would react in the scenario proposed by Trump.
"We will not discuss hypothetical situations or specific measures under our rules on the use of force, but our forces are trained professionals who always have the inherent right to self-defense," said Lieutenant-Colonel Jamie Davis, Pentagon spokesman. . "I also want to emphasize that our forces support DHS / CBP, which carries out law enforcement activities."
Under the 1980 Refugee Act, migrants who present themselves at American points of entry or reach US soil and fear persecution in their home country are entitled to be screened of "credible fear". This review is usually conducted by a US asylum officer to determine whether the applicant should be referred to an immigration judge.
If they are approved by the asylum officer, plaintiffs are generally released in the United States waiting for a hearing, which may take a year or more because the courts of Immigration have a backlog of more than 750,000 cases.
Trump said that a large number of immigrants are trained by immigration lawyers to make false claims for asylum and that more and more families are coming to the country. Central America make the trip, as US law prevents the federal government from holding children for long periods. The number of asylum seeker families in Central America has reached a record high this year.
The process, said Trump, "ridicules our immigration system".
[The border is tougher than ever to cross. But there’s still one way into America]
Legal analysts question the legality of the draft plans, distributed within the Trump administration, which would accuse asylum groups generally refused to interfere, especially those who do not surrender. not in the country by official entry points.
"He can not, by executive decree, repeal an act of Congress or a constitutional amendment," said Deborah Anker, a professor at Harvard Law School. "He must ask for new legislation."
Trump said the migrants in the caravan are not "legitimate" asylum seekers, arguing that the law should not be used to welcome people fleeing poverty and address those who escape religious and political persecution.
The administration is already trying to limit asylum requests.
In recent months, US Customs and Border Protection officers have returned thousands of refugee claimants before they can apply, asking them to return later, usually citing capacity limits. . The practice, called "measure," is challenged in federal court.
The caravan, a fluid and poorly organized group, had more than 7,000 people at the beginning of last week, according to the United Nations, but more recent estimates by the Mexican government put the number at around half. Other smaller groups of migrants also traveled north and attempted to join the main group.
Mexican authorities claim that more than 2,000 migrants have accepted their offer to seek asylum in this country and remain in southern Mexico.
If thousands of people in the caravan manage to reach the US border and find serious restrictions on their ability to seek asylum at legal crossing points, this could dramatically increase the possibility that they are attempting to swim or float across the Rio Grande, even with thousands of borders. Patrol agents and American soldiers were waiting for them on the other side, the experts warned.
Trump has promised not to release them to the United States pending a hearing, although US courts have limited the government's ability to keep children in immigration jails for more than 20 days.
"We are building huge tent cities," Trump said Thursday. "You do not have to release."
Maria Sacchetti, Seung Kim Min and Paul Sonne contributed to this report.
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