Trump Vows to Deport Four Times as Many Asylum Seekers
US will quadruple number of migrants sent back over US-Mexico border
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President Donald Trump's administration has vowed to deport four times as many asylum seekers back over the US-Mexico border, the White House has revealed.
Border enforcement officials aim to quadruple the number of daily asylum applicants who are sent back out of the country in a bid to tackle the ongoing crisis at the border as migrants continue to flood into the United States.
According to a Trump administration official who spoke with the Associated Press, the move is a multi-faceted attempt to crack down on the massive number of illegal immigrants crossing at the Southern Border before making claims for asylum.
On average, around 60 asylum seekers are sent back to Mexico at the El Paso, Calexico, and San Ysidro ports of entry every day.
These individuals are only permitted to return to the U.S. for their court dates.
The current backlog of over 700,000 immigration cases, however, means they may wait years for their cases to progress through the system.
President Donald Trump, along with numerous other immigration hardliners, argues that many migrants are lodging bogus asylum claims as a means to enter the U.S. and remain there for extended periods while their cases move through the backlogged system.
“You have people coming, you know they’re all met by the lawyers…,” the president said during a rally speech in Michigan on Thursday.
"And they come out, and they’re met by the lawyers, and they say, ‘Say the following phrase: I am very afraid for my life. I am afraid for my life.’ OK.
“And then I look at the guy. He looks like he just got out of the ring.
"He’s a heavyweight champion of the world. It’s a big fat con job.”
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According to the Daily Caller, immigration officials aim to return as many as 300 migrants a day by the end of the week.
However, the plan as so far been slow to develop.
In San Ysidro, for example, the Mexican government has been willing to take in up to 120 asylum seekers a week, but the U.S. has only sent back 40 per week during the first six weeks.
The entire effort is part of the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, which does not apply to Mexican nationals or children.
The plans come as the Trump administration has embarked on several different initiatives to curb illegal immigration.
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Trump declared a national emergency, allowing him to allocate billions more in funding for a wall construction at the southern border.
The State Department on Saturday announced it will work to withhold around $700 million in financial aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras for — as Trump argues — failing to stem the flow of illegal immigrants leaving their counties.
Trump has also warned he prepared to shut the U.S.-Mexico border down completely.
Mexico must use its very strong immigration laws to stop the many thousands of people trying to get into the USA. Our detention areas are maxed out & we will take no more illegals. Next step is to close the Border! This will also help us with stopping the Drug flow from Mexico!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 30, 2019
The news comes as shocking photos emerged last week, taken by a journalist with HBO's Vice TV, showing illegal immigrants being housed under an overpass near El Paso, Texas after the local border patrol facilities ran out of room to house the thousands of migrants crossing the United States border.
MSN reports that the "makeshift encampment" "was set up last week after the main border processing center in El Paso reached up to 400 percent of its capacity in the largest influx of migrants to the United States in years."
CBP is dealing with what they've termed a "Spring surge" in migration as mostly Central American families and unaccompanied minors have flooded facilities across Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico.
According to the El Paso border patrol operation, facilities are processing approximately 2,200 migrants per day in facilities that can house only around 1,500.
