UPDATE - US To Implement New Restrictions For Asylum-Seeking Migrants - Homeland Security Chief

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2019) The Trump administration will implement new restrictions that will end certain protections for asylum-seeking migrants, mostly impacting those from Central America, in order to deter the influx at the US-Mexico border, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan said.

"Ultimately, today's action will reduce the overwhelming burdens on our domestic system caused by asylum-seekers failing to seek urgent protection in the first available country, economic migrants lacking a legitimate fear of persecution, and the transnational criminal organizations, traffickers and smugglers exploiting our system for profits," McAleenan said in a press release on Monday.

Migrants will only be allowed to apply for asylum in the United States if they first applied in at least one other country on their way to the US border, but their application was denied, McAleenen said.

In addition, migrants may be eligible to apply for asylum in the United States if they passed through a country or countries that are not part of certain international refugee treaties, including the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol or the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Lastly, migrants will be eligible to apply for asylum in the United States if they was trafficked, the release said.

The new rule will be effective when the document is published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, the release said.

US Attorney General William Barr said in the release that the new rule is lawful and will help filter migrants exploiting the US asylum system.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a statement later on Monday said the asylum rule is a "clear abdication of American humanitarianism" as well as illegal.

"The Administration has clearly overreached their authority and violated the law with these restrictions, which will be swiftly and successfully challenged in the courts. The Democratic House will always stand firm against attacks on immigrants, and will continue to call on the White House to join us to support smart, effective immigration policies that honor our values and keep families together and safe," Pelosi said.

Caravans of migrants from Central American countries seeking asylum began moving toward the United States through Mexico last fall. Trump has called the surge of arrivals a crisis and declared a national emergency in February to secure funds for constructing a border wall.