BORDER/CENTRAL AMERICA/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Long before a surge of migrants from Central America overwhelmed the southwestern border, the Trump administration was already waging a broad assault on the rules determining who can seek asylum in the United States. But on Monday [7-15-19], the administration announced one of its most restrictive rules yet for a system, enshrined in international law, that Mr. Trump has called ‘ridiculous’ and ‘insane.’ In a move that would stop virtually all Central American families who are fleeing persecution and poverty from entering the United States, Trump administration officials said they would deny asylum to migrants who failed to apply for protections in at least one country they passed through on their way north. Under the new rule, Hondurans and Salvadorans would have to apply for — and be denied — asylum in Guatemala or Mexico before they were eligible to apply for asylum in the United States. Guatemalans would have to apply for and be denied asylum in Mexico. The rule would effectively limit asylum protections to Mexicans and those who cross the United States’ southwestern border by sea.”
–Michael D. Shear and Zolan Kanno-Youngs, “Most Migrants at Border With Mexico Would Be Denied Asylum Protections Under New Trump Rule,” The New York Times online, July 15, 2019