Washington
cnn
—
The U.S.-Mexico border was effectively closed to migrants seeking asylum in the United States just hours after President Donald Trump took office, an extraordinary departure from previous protocols that has left many worried migrants in limbo.
It is a rare combination of two policies, one by former President Joe Biden and the other by Trump, that have virtually closed the United States’ southern border to asylum seekers. With refugee admissions also suspended, people seeking refuge in the United States have few, if any, avenues.
Biden’s executive action last summer, which restricted asylum to people who crossed the border illegally, was condemned by Democrats and immigrant advocates. Biden administration officials argued that migrants still had an option available through the border app known as CBP One to make an appointment at a legal port of entry.
That option closed minutes after Trump’s inauguration, leaving thousands of migrants in limbo and leading to a border largely sealed to asylum seekers.
Migrants who had been waiting for their appointments along Mexico’s northern border expressed shock and disappointment.
Luis, a Venezuelan migrant who has lived in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juárez for the past nine months, told CNN’s Valeria León that he was “trying to do things the right way” before learning that his Appointment scheduled for Monday through the CBP One app had been abruptly cancelled.
Venezuelan Yenyile Díaz, who has also spent months living in Ciudad Juárez with her family, said everyone had missed their appointments after CBP One closed.
“The Biden administration had managed to restrict asylum by opening some other legal avenues and hoping that they would hold up in the courts. As of today, there is almost no way to get protection at the US border or anywhere along the route to the United States,” said Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute think tank. “It’s a huge change.”
Republicans have argued that they have taken advantage of the U.S. asylum system in recent years, claiming that immigrants apply for asylum even if they do not fit the definition and may instead come to the United States for economic reasons.
When people apply for asylum, they are supposed to seek protection from violence or persecution that prevents them from feeling safe in their country of origin or prevents them from returning safely to their country of origin. The process to obtain asylum can take years, and some applications end up being denied.
In an executive order signed Monday, Trump effectively suspended the US asylum law until what he has called an “invasion on the southern border” stops. He also ordered federal agencies to “reject, repatriate or expel” migrants who crossed the border.
“The decision to eliminate all avenues to seek asylum, even for families with children fleeing for their lives, is a stunning development, which makes a mockery of our post-World War II commitment to never summarily return people.” to danger,” Lee Gelernt, an ACLU attorney who led many of the challenges to Trump’s border policies in the first administration, said in a statement.
Covid-era restrictions along the border, known as Title 42, also prohibited asylum and allowed border authorities to return migrants. That policy was challenged in court.
Trump inherits a relatively calm border, as Biden’s asylum restrictions caused migrant crossings to plummet.
In the early days of Trump’s first term, border crossings remained low as migrants waited to see and play their shares. But they eventually increased.
Although it is difficult to predict migration patterns, Homeland Security officials warn that this could happen again.
“They may wait a while to see what happens. Wait a day or a few months, if they are that far away and committed, in the end they will try anyway,” the Homeland Security official said, referring to the migrants.
Johana Conde, from Cuba, told CNNE from the Mexican border city of Piedras Negras that she now plans to return to her country, but is not sure what the future holds.
“They say they do want immigrants in the United States, but legal ones. Obviously, we did all this legally… Right now we don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said.
