U.S. immigration asylum seekers

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – With a go-ahead from the Supreme Court, the Trump administration Thursday began enforcing a radical new rule denying asylum to most migrants arriving at the southern border – a move that spread despair among those fleeing poverty and violence in their homelands. A spokeswoman for the Homeland Security agency that manages asylum cases says the policy will be retroactive to July 16, when the initial rule was announced. The new policy would deny refuge to anyone at the U.S.-Mexico border who passes through another country on the way to the U.S. without first seeking asylum there. Supreme Court cleared the way, for now, to enforce it while legal challenges move forward.

Section:Gallery

Thu., Sept. 12, 2019

In this April 29, 2019, photo, Cuban migrants are escorted by Mexican immigration officials in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, as they cross the Paso del Norte International bridge to be processed as asylum seekers on the U.S. side of the border. Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019 that Mexico’s government doesn’t agree with an “astonishing” U.S. Supreme Court order that would block migrants from countries other than Mexico and Canada from applying for asylum at U.S. borders.

Christian Torres Associated Press
A Honduran migrant prepares tortillas and rice at the Pan de Vida shelter for migrants where she and her two daughters are living while waiting their turn to apply for asylum in the U.S. in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019. Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Thursday that Mexico’s government doesn’t agree with an “astonishing” U.S. Supreme Court order that would block migrants from countries other than Mexico and Canada from applying for asylum at U.S. borders.

Christian Chavez Associated Press
Ngoh Elliot Takere gives an interview in Tijuana, Mexico, where he has been waiting for two months to apply for asylum in the U.S., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019, on the border with San Diego. Takere left his war-torn Cameroon after being jailed by police for being part of the English speaking minority; paid $400 bail and was released on the condition that he leave the country or the French speaking government would track him down and kill him, he said.

Julie Watson Associated Press
People attend a church service at the Agape World Mission shelter, where many Central American and Mexican migrants stay while trying to reach the U.S. or to request asylum, in Tijuana, Mexico, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019. A new level of despair spread among tens of thousands of migrants waiting on the Mexican border to seek refuge in the U.S. as the Trump administration began enforcing radical new restrictions Thursday on who qualifies for asylum.

Emilio Espejel Associated Press
Photographed through a window screen, Central American migrants pass the time at the Pan de Vida shelter in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, while waiting for their turn to request asylum in the United States, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019. Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Thursday that Mexico’s government doesn’t agree with an “astonishing” U.S. Supreme Court order that would block migrants from countries other than Mexico and Canada from applying for asylum at U.S. borders.

Christian Chavez Associated Press