Donald announced changes to the laws governing asylum. The current immigration laws are not specific for refugees or immigrants that are seeking asylum. Donald Trump clarified the rules on asylum requests in the United States.

Donald Trump changes the immigration law for asylum requests

Donald Trump changed the asylum policy in the United States. This change forces refugees seeking asylum to apply to the first country they pass through. Earlier in Donald Trump’s presidency, migrant caravans crossed Central America and into Mexico, where they currently wait on the border between Mexico and the United States.

This change would reduce asylum cases in the United States. Most Asylum seekers pass the first examination. Many migrants who pass the initial screening typically do not win their case for asylum.

The law intends to discourage migrants from seeking asylum in the United States. This would reduce migrants from abusing the asylum system for entry into the United States. This is a temporary change until Congress acts on the current immigration laws in the United States.

The change does have exceptions. A migrant who is a victim of human trafficking would be exempt. The rule change would not affect refugees denied in the first country or if the country was not a signatory of the treaties governing refugees.

The reaction to Donald Trump’s changes to asylum laws

The reactions came from a variety of sources. Mexico came out and said that their asylum system is already at capacity. This policy is because of the high number of immigrants that pass through the United States and Mexico border would most affect them.

Immigrant rights groups, religious leaders and humanitarian groups have all come out against the rule changes.

These groups are considering legal proceedings against the administration and the changes to asylum laws. AP News quoted Eleanor Acer of Human Rights First as saying, "This is yet another move to turn refugees with well-founded fears of persecution back to places where their lives are in danger - in fact, the rule would deny asylum to refugees who do not apply for asylum in countries where they are in peril."

Donald Trump faces a lawsuit from ACLU about changes to asylum laws

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed suit in Northern California against the rule changes for asylum.

The ACLU claims this directly violates federal immigration and regulatory laws. Lee Gelernt was quoted by Politico as stating, "This is the Trump administration’s most extreme run at an asylum ban yet."

A judge temporarily halted a similar law that denied immigrants asylum if they entered the country between the ports of entry. The current laws consider migrants who enter the United States outside a port of entry to have entered the country illegally.

The aftermath of the asylum rule changes for Donald Trump

Donald Trump has instituted another change in immigration laws. He has already faced lawsuits for prior changes. The ACLU has already sued the administration for the rule changes of immigrants seeking asylum.

According to AP news, asylum seekers during the year 2008 was 35,811 of which they granted 8384 requests. In 2018, that number grew to 162,060 and the United States granted 13,168 asylums. In ten years, the asylum requests grew by twenty-two percent. The change will help decrease the requests and reduce the migrants being held in the detention centers.

The Democrats have been critical about the conditions at holding centers on the border. They have tried to amend the United States immigration laws. Trump took action with the rule change to reduce overcrowding by discouraging the people seeking asylum.
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