The US Federal Government has announced that immigrants of a nation, who cross other countries that are considered “Third Secure Country” on their way to the US, will not be eligible for asylum but will first be processed in those countries where they transit before they reach the southern border of the USA.
This opinion of the Trump Administration is known as the Interim Final Rule, issued jointly by the Departments of Justice and National Security, and has been published in the Federal Register and will be effective as of today, Tuesday, 16 July. This new rule is based on the Immigration and Nationality Law (I N A). The same rule not only applies to limit the eligibility of asylum, but also applies to minors who have crossed the southern border of the US without the company of an adult (parents).
It is important to note that most of the people affected by this recent ruling are Central Americans, as well as immigrants from African, Haitian, and Cuban countries who are trying to reach US territory along the southern border of Mexico.
It is good to point out that the federal law allows immigrants to apply for asylum upon arrival in the United States regardless of how they arrived or entered.
The only exception to this, namely not being considered for asylum, is for those who came through a country that is qualified as “safe”; but it must be clarified that the immigration laws that regulate asylum do not determine a country of insurance. The US has, so far, only come in agreement under this denomination with Canada alone.
Mexico and Central American countries have considered a regional pact on the matter but nothing has been materialized.
Likewise, it must be noted that the new measure that goes into effect today does not apply:
– If the immigrant shows that he has been a victim of human trafficking,
– If the country you went through does not have one of the international treaties that regulate the management of refugees,
– If your request for asylum was denied at least by one of the countries you have been transiting.
Finally, it is expected that organizations and activists in favor of immigration will file a lawsuit before the court to annul the new regulation that will begin to govern today.
