Trump administration moves to limit migrants' asylum claims

 

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration took a major step on Thursday to restrict asylum claims by migrants, putting forward a regulation that would make individuals ineligible for asylum if they cross the US southern border illegally.

“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,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said in a joint statement.

“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.”