Washington D.C., Jul 15, 2019 / 14:00 pm
The Trump administration announced a new rule on Monday, changing the asylum application process along the U.S.-Mexco border.
The interim rule, which will be published in the Federal Register July 16, will require that anyone seeking asylum at the United States' southern border must have first applied and been rejected for asylum in any third country they have travelled through. The rule is set to go into effect on Tuesday.
The change in policy means that a person fleeing - for example - Guatemala, who traveled through Mexico before presenting themselves at a legal port of entry into the United States, would first have to claim and be rejected for asylum in Mexico in order to be eligible to claim asylum in the United States.
The new rule brings asylum policy along the southern border in line with current policy along the northern border with Canada. Under the Canada-United States Safe Third Country Agreement, enacted in 2004, a person must make a claim for asylum in either the United States or Canada, depending on where they arrive first. A similar policy, the Dublin Regulation, exists in the European Union.