Yesterday Trump issued a regulation which effectively stated that his administration would not process asylum applications unless they were submitted as official border crossings. In my opinion, the regulation is clearly illegal, as Section 208(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act states that any alien who is present in the U.S. may request asylum and specifies that the alien may request asylum "whether or not at a designated port of arrival" and "irrespective of such alien's status." Also, the Trump Administration issued the regulation to be effective immediately, thus bypassing the normal notice and comment period that is normally required under the Administrative Procedures Act (maybe there is a basis for bypassing that requirement, I am not enough of an Admin Attorney to know for sure). So I expect the regulation will be blocked by the Courts any second now.
Put putting aside the validity of the regulation, won't this just increase the number of "illegals" in the U.S.? Let's think this through. Imagine a family fleeing gang violence in Central America who makes their way across Mexico and over the U.S. border intending to ask for asylum. Before today, the family would turn themselves in to immigration authorities so that their asylum application could be processed. If the application is successful, they get to stay. But if not, they can be deported. If that same scenario happens with these new regulations in effect, they just won't turn themselves in and will become another undocumented family. It's not going to stop them from coming. It just will keep more people outside the system, which means more undocumented.
(Oh and I continue to update this post. What fun times we live in!)
Put putting aside the validity of the regulation, won't this just increase the number of "illegals" in the U.S.? Let's think this through. Imagine a family fleeing gang violence in Central America who makes their way across Mexico and over the U.S. border intending to ask for asylum. Before today, the family would turn themselves in to immigration authorities so that their asylum application could be processed. If the application is successful, they get to stay. But if not, they can be deported. If that same scenario happens with these new regulations in effect, they just won't turn themselves in and will become another undocumented family. It's not going to stop them from coming. It just will keep more people outside the system, which means more undocumented.
(Oh and I continue to update this post. What fun times we live in!)
