Trump administration to apply ‘third country’ rule for asylum seekers
The Trump administration announced the US departments of Justice and Homeland Security are adopting an interim “third country rule” requiring immigrants seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border to first apply for refugee status in another country.
News that the rule will take effect today, 16th July, brought quick condemnation by Catholic and other immigrant advocates, including Christopher Kerr, executive director of the Ignatian Solidarity Network.
President Donald Trump is “seeking to shut off access to safety and refuge for Central American families facing horrific violence, repression and poverty in their home countries,” Kerr said.
The rule will also affect people from many other countries “fleeing religious persecution and other forms of abuse,” he added.
“Asylum is an internationally recognised life-saving process that is firmly embedded in US law and history,” said Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc.
“Attempting to subvert this process is a betrayal of American history and our legal system.” Gallagher’s comments were included in a joint news release of reaction from several faith groups issued yesterday by the Interfaith Immigration Coalition.
Picture: US President Donald Trump. (CNS photo/Carlos Barria, Reuters).
Tags: asylum, asylum seekers, Donald Trump, Homeland Security, justice, mexico, third country, trump, Trump administration, US