The Department of Homeland Security just announced that asylum seekers currently residing in the U.S. will be transported back to Mexico as their claims are considered.
A blindside hit during the budget negotiations
The announcement from DHS comes amidst ongoing budget negotiations where Trump is attempting to wrangle $5 billion for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. So far, the Senate has sent a short-term spending package to the House for passage, which would fund the government until February but not fund a wall. (RELATED: House Expected To Pass Spending Bill Senate Pushed Through Late Wednesday Night.)
But, House Republicans have revolted against leadership and rejected the deal. Now, the President is meeting with House Republicans, including members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, to resolve this issue. (RELATED: Government Shutdown Update: Trump Veto Rumors Spread Through White House.)
As all of this is happening, Trump’s DHS just blindsided Democrats with a major announcement on refugees at the southern border. From CNN:
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced Thursday that the United States has told Mexico that individuals entering the US illegally or entering without proper documentation and seek asylum will be sent to Mexico to wait for the duration of their US immigration proceedings.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, individuals entering illegally or without proper documentation “trying to enter the US to claim asylum will no longer be released into our country, where they often disappear before a court can determine their claim’s merits.”They will instead “be processed by DHS and given a ‘Notice to Appear’ for their immigration court hearing.”
The United States has told Mexico that individuals entering the US illegally or entering without proper documentation and seek asylum will be sent to Mexico to wait for the duration of their US immigration proceedings, DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says https://t.co/CaizFmT1qA
— CNN (@CNN) December 20, 2018
A move to reduce illegal immigration
This move will surely stop the kind of immigration abuse where asylum seekers purposefully miss their court date in order to escape undetected into the country.
The move here is simple: if Democrats won’t work to secure our border, Trump will crack down hard on illegal immigration domestically.
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Perhaps this move will finally bring Democrats to the table and force them into funding a wall.
