Washington (Reuters) :
The Trump administration is set to harden the rules this week on those allowed to seek asylum in the United States, as it attempts to stem a wave of migration on its southern border with Mexico.
In a fast-track regulation set to publish in the Federal Register on Tuesday, the administration has created a framework that will allow asylum seekers to be sent to other nations that have negotiated bilateral agreements to accept them.
Previously, officials in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump have argued that migrants with a valid need for asylum should seek protection in the first ‘safe’ country where they have the chance to apply, since many migrants travel through multiple countries on their way to the U.S. border.
However, the new regulation states that asylum seekers may be sent to any other countries with which the United States has asylum agreements that permit such an action – even if they did not first transit through those nations.
The regulation is the latest action by Trump to restrict asylum access in the United States. Trump has made immigration – and curbing the number of mostly Central American migrants arriving at the border – a major theme in his reelection campaign.
The United States already maintains a bilateral asylum deal with Canada. Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras have also signed such deals in recent months, but the pacts have not been finalized.
