New Policy Places More Restrictions on Asylum

Getting an asylum application approved is no small feat. A new presidential proclamation will make it an even greater challenge.

The ink is barely dry on a proclamation signed by President Trump on the morning of Friday, November 9, asylum will not be granted to immigrants entering the country illegally. The change went into effect the very next day (Saturday, November 10). From that point forward, asylum can only be applied for at official U.S. ports of entry. Unless they leave the country and reenter, asylum applicants who entered the country before the proclamation will not be subject to the rule. This was issued by the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department. (See new policy guidance here.)

Those who deem this rule to be unlawful won’t go down without a fight. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) feels that the new regulation is illegal and legal challenges are expect to come.

This only adds to a growing number of changes affecting immigration law aimed at deterring those who seek entry to the U.S. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses” is a message President Trump is trying to invalidate – one proclamation at a time.