The Us Will Turn Away Asylum Seekers On The Us
Trump said hes not going to close the US-Mexico border yet, but he will be prohibiting the entry of asylum seekers and those who try to cross without authorization at the southern border, likely later on Wednesday. He said he would invoke a provision in federal immigration law that allows the US to suspend travel from any country that poses serious danger of the introduction of communicable disease.
To an extent, most asylum seekers were already prevented from entering the US through various policies Trump had enacted, but this would give the administration another tool to turn them away.
Since February 2016, the Trump administrations policies at the border have forced migrants to wait in Mexico for months at a time. US Customs and Border Protection officials have been limiting the number of asylum seekers they process at ports of entry each day, making migrants wait for their turn in Mexico, where migrant shelters are at capacity.
Even after migrants are processed, they are quickly sent back to Mexico under the Trump administrations Remain in Mexico policy, officially known as the Migrant Protection Protocols . More than 60,000 migrants have been sent back to await decisions on their US asylum applications.
Trump could now effectively shut the door on asylum seekers entirely on account of the coronavirus pandemic a move that would likely face legal challenges.
Quality Journalism Doesn’t Come Free
Perhaps it goes without saying but producing quality journalism isn’t cheap. At a time when newsroom resources and revenue across the country are declining, The Texas Tribune remains committed to sustaining our mission: creating a more engaged and informed Texas with every story we cover, every event we convene and every newsletter we send. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on members to help keep our stories free and our events open to the public. Do you value our journalism? Show us with your support.
Trump Closing Out Presidency With Familiar Lies About His Border Wall
Donald Trump on Tuesday began closing out his presidency the same way he began his campaign for it five and a half years ago: with lies about the nations southern border with Mexico.
Were joined together to celebrate a great achievement: the extraordinarily successful building of the wall, Trump bragged in a 22-minute speech in Alamo, Texas, that cost taxpayers at least $2 million in travel and security costs to stage. They said it couldnt be done, but we got it done.
In reality, only about 80 miles of the 453 he takes credit for has been built in areas where there was previously no barrier, according to Customs and Border Protection figures updated on Jan. 4. The rest of the miles have replaced existing fencing of some kind.
Indeed, even the word wall is a falsehood. While during his campaign Trump promised a thick concrete wall extending deep underground to prevent tunneling, whats been built instead has been steel fencing virtually identical to what was going up during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, although under Trump the height in some places increased to 30 feet, 12 more than what was being built previously.
Trump explicitly told Mexicos president at the time that he understood that Mexico would not pay for the wall, but that he would prefer if Mexican officials would not speak about that publicly to avoid hurting Trumps standing with his supporters in the United States.
Recommended Reading: New England Patriots Military Gear
Trump Closes Us Borders Immigration Grinds To A Halt
- EmbedEmbed
President Trump plans to seal off the U.S-Mexico border to migrants under a law intended to protect the country from communicable disease. The border with Canada is closed to non-essential travel.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
Borders across the world are closing because of the coronavirus pandemic. The European Union this week all but walled off the continent from the rest of the world. Now the Trump administration is taking extreme measures, sharply limiting travelers from Canada. The U.S. government has also slowed the processing of immigrants who are already here. NPRs John Burnett covers immigration. He is with us from Austin, Texas. Good morning, John.
JOHN BURNETT, BYLINE: Good morning, David.
GREENE: Can we start with the northern border between the United States and Canada? What is the latest there?
BURNETT: Well, President Trump said yesterday that, by mutual consent, the U.S. and Canada will halt all nonessential traffic across the worlds longest international border. Both governments are now saying citizens should return home as soon as possible. So it looks like cross-border visits to family and friends or zipping over to see Niagara Falls from the Canadian side are over for the time being. Heres the president at a midday press conference yesterday.
GREENE: Well, I mean, weve been hearing for months about asylum-seekers who are stuck in Mexico waiting for their asylum cases to be resolved. How will this affect them and their lives here?
YAMALI: .
Claim: The Us Implemented A Travel Ban Way Ahead Of Anybody Else This Is False
On April 1, Trump told reporters that the United States had banned “dangerous foreign travel that threatens the health of our people and we did so early, far earlier than anyone would have thought, and way ahead of anybody else.”
The U.S. implemented a restriction on foreign travelers who had been in China in the past two weeks, at 5 p.m. Feb. 2. Italy had already done so by Jan. 31 and North Korea had banned all foreign tourists Jan. 22.
Recommended Reading: Patriot Lighting Brooklyn Ceiling Fan
Troops Requested For Northern Border
Specifically, CBP had requested 1,000 personnel on the northern border and 540 personnel on the southern border. The 540 personnel would be added to the 5,200 troops already present at the U.S.-Mexico border that followed President Donald Trumps over undocumented immigration in early 2019.
The leaked memo referred to illegal entries having the potential to spread infectious disease. The memo did not clearly explain how these troops were going to be used only that they will not conduct civilian law enforcement activities. The conditions of the use of force were also unclear.
Read more:Keep on trucking: Trucks must keep moving across Canada-U.S. border amid coronavirus
Canada and the United States had already agreed to close their land border to non-essential travel as a way to stop the spread of COVID-19. That decision did not mean the border would be entirely closed the flow of goods by land was vital for both economies and would not be stopped. Cross-border commutes related to grocery shopping, studies and work were still allowed as well.
Canadas diplomatic response to the American attempt to militarize its northern border, generally polite but at times tense, is not surprising given the asymmetrical Canada-U.S. relationship.
Recommended Reading: How Much Does It Cost To Stay At Trump Hotel
Does Trump Understand What ‘closing The Border’ Actually Means
At a campaign rally last week, Donald Trump talked up the idea of closing the United States’ southern border, insisting that it would be “very simple,” and no one should listen to those who “make it too complicated.” He may have gotten the idea from conservative media, which pushed the idea the night before.
The day after the event, the president published a strange series of tweets, culminating in a threat to close the border this week. To prevent such a drastic move, he wrote, Mexico would have to “immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States throug our Southern Border.”
Asked on ABC’s “This Week” yesterday what it would take for the president not to close the border, acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney replied, “Something dramatic.”
Trump elaborated on his perspective — sort of — during a brief Q& A at Mar-a-Lago.
“…Mexico is going to have to do something otherwise, I’m closing the border. I’ll just close the border. And with a deficit like we have with Mexico and have had for many years, closing the border will be a profit-making operation. “So you close up the border and you watch the drugs go way down too. But I will close the border if Mexico doesn’t get with it, if Mexico doesn’t stop it.”
I don’t know if Trump is playing some kind of weird game or bluffing in the hopes of gaining poorly defined concessions, but even more than usual, his position is hopelessly incoherent.
Read Also: Do The Colts Play The Patriots This Year
Whats Happening With The Muslim Ban Now
Although the first and second iterations of the Muslim ban were struck down by federal judges who said it amounted to religious discrimination against Muslims, the Supreme Court upheld the third version of the policy in June 2018.
The justices ruled in favor of the Trump administration on the grounds that federal law gives the President broad authority to suspend entry to the U.S.a justification that has helped the Trump administration further camouflage the xenophobic, racist, and Islamophobic intent behind the policy.
The Court also ruled that the third version of the ban could be implemented while lower courts considered whether it was appropriate for litigation to continue. Since then, the upheld restrictions have blocked travel by people from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and North Korea, and political officials from Venezuela.
On Jan. 28, 2020, the Fourth Circuit Court heard arguments over whether civil rights groups can proceed in challenging the Trump administration’s third version of the Muslim ban based on its discriminatory intent. A decision is expected in the coming months.
The expanded ban took effect on Feb. 21.
Claim: Trump Says He Inherited A Broken Test For The Virus This Is False
“We inherited a broken test,” Trump said on March 30 on Fox News.
Later in the day, he complained that his administration wasn’t getting enough credit for overcoming what he claimed was a “broken testing system” in order to get a coronavirus test up and running.
You should be saying congratulations to the men and women who have done this job, who have inherited a broken testing system, and who have made it great, he said during the March 30 Rose Garden news conference.
Trump’s claims come amid broad criticism that the U.S. was slow to begin testing its residents for coronavirus, hurting early efforts to contain the outbreak. But its impossible for Trump to have inherited a broken testing system for COVID-19. The novel coronavirus did not exist until late last year, when researchers believe it was transmitted from an animal to a human for the first time.
And there’s little evidence that the actions past administrations hamstrung the Trump administration here, particularly since no administration had faced a pandemic of this nature.
Redlener said the presidents claim was nonsense.
Theres nothing that he inherited that could have hamstrung them, said Redlener, adding that virus test development is pretty commonplace.
Even if there was, the World Health Organization and Germany and other places offered us testing equipment and materials, which we decided not to take,” he said.
Recommended Reading: Reviews On Patriot Power Generator
Trump To Partially Close Us
Trump said he’s concerned ‘unvetted’ migrants will spread the coronavirus, despite the limited number of cases south of the border.
U.S. and Mexican officials have been in talks this week over how to ensure that trade and essential travel is not disrupted at the border. | Patricio Espinoza/AP Photo
03/20/2020 02:03 PM EDT
-
Link Copied
President Donald Trump announced Friday that the U.S. and Mexico have agreed to temporarily close the border to nonessential travel to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
U.S. and Mexican officials have been in talks this week over how to work together in responding to the global pandemic while ensuring that bilateral trade and essential travel are not disrupted at the border. Its a similar move to the U.S. and Canadas decision on Wednesday to impose travel restrictions at the northern U.S. border.
Both countries know the importance of working together to limit the spread of the virus and ensure the commerce that supports our economy continues to keep flowing, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a White House press conference. The United States is glad to have a friend that is working side-by-side with us in the fight.
The U.S. agreement with Mexico and Canada to restrict nonessential travel will go into effect on Saturday.
Trump tied the partial border closure to his concern over the thousands of unscreened and unvetted and unauthorized entries from dozens of countries that border agents encounter on the job.
- Filed under:
Trump Defends Closing Borders To Travelers To Fight Coronavirus
In an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News, President Trump insulted his potential 2020 rivals, lamented impeachment and defended his administrations coronavirus policies.
-
Send any friend a story
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.
Give this article
- Read in app
By Katie Rogers
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. President Trump defended a decision that would bar foreign nationals who had recently visited China from entering the United States as his administration continued to assess the growing threat of a coronavirus outbreak.
Sitting with the Fox News personality Sean Hannity, Mr. Trump used a roughly nine-minute interview taped on Saturday evening at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Florida, and broadcast on Sunday as an opportunity to condense his usual rally-speak into Super Bowl pregame chatter. The topics included the virus, his impeachment and quick-paced insults of his potential 2020 rivals.
We pretty much shut it down coming in from China, Mr. Trump said of the coronavirus. But we cant have thousands of people coming in who may have this problem, the coronavirus. Were going to see what happens, but we did shut it down, yes.
There have been seven confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, but no deaths.
Its been very unfair from the day I won, Mr. Trump said. Mostly it was unfair to my family.
Mr. Trump falsely called Mr. Sanders a communist and claimed that he had been married in Russia.
Also Check: How Do Republicans Feel About Abortion
Closing Of Borders Could Be The Most Lasting Harm From This Coronavirus Pandemic
This article was published more than 2 years ago. Some information may no longer be current.
In the 1930s, the United States raised tariffs on goods coming in from Canada, which retaliated with new tariffs of its own, worsening and lengthening the Great Depression for both countries. Wednesday, in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus, President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to partially close the Canada-U.S. border, which likewise will worsen and lengthen the mutual economic damage from the pandemic.
Walls, once up, dont easily come down. In the long run, the most lasting harm from this pandemic could be the closing of borders, the closing of minds.
There are good public-health reasons for keeping foreigners out when a country is trying to control the spread of a disease. The Trudeau government and Trump administration deserve praise for co-operating to limit the harm by exempting crossings that are essential to trade and commerce.
But these restrictions will make for a stickier border. They will make it more cumbersome to do business, weakening supply chains. Restrictions restrict, often in ways that no one intended.
The big difference between the banking crisis of 2008 and todays economic emergency is that the United States under George W. Bush was a reasonably open society, while Donald Trump has been banning foreigners and raising tariffs and building walls since the day he was inaugurated.
A Timeline Of The Trump Administrations Coronavirus Actions
Travel restrictions, lack of tests, contradicting claims: These are some of the major actions by the US president.
The administration of United States President Donald Trump has faced its greatest challenge in 2020: The coronavirus pandemic and the disease it causes, COVID-19.
Since emerging in China at the end of 2019, the virus has spread all over the world. The US now leads the globe in the pandemics spread, with almost 830,000 cases and 46,000 deaths as of April 21.
The administrations response has been widespread, ranging from downplaying the crisis to enormous bailouts. It has also been the subject of much criticism, with Trump taking to his daily briefings to defend his response, often making contradictory claims.
Here is a timeline of key actions taken by the Trump administration related to its response to the virus within the US:
Recommended Reading: Jeep Patriot Throttle Body Recall
People Who Cross The Border Regularly Would Be Stuck
Everyday, thousands of people cross the border between the United States and Mexico simply as part of their commute. There are Mexican students who go to American schools, for example, U.S. citizens who live in Mexico but work in the States, or simply people who live in one country and often visit family in the other. If Trump closes the border, he would immediately be throwing these peoples lives into turmoil.
Will Trump Close The Southern Border
In the article, Trump renews threat to close Mexican Border, send more troops written by Makini Brice, Trump threatens to close the southern border and send in more military personnel to secure the border against the new caravan of migrants arriving at the southern border. Trump states that A very big Caravan of over 20,000 people started up through Mexico . This is just another excuse for the president to shut the border. Even though President Trump sends in the military to the southern border, by law the military are not allowed to enforce immigration laws under the Posse Comitatus Act. Brice also gives information that a U.S Soldier had a gun confiscated by Mexican military personnel. This also causes concern for all Americans since this is causing a larger conflict with Mexico. Tensions between the U.S and Mexico could cause trade also to seize because Mexico is one of our largest trading partners.
References: Trump renews threat to close Mexican border, send more troops
Recommended Reading: Who Started The Civil War Democrats Or Republicans
