President Trump has decided to stage four times the amount of asylum seekers in Mexico than he currently is because of the large numbers of illegal aliens trying to force their way into the United States.
They will be brought in to apply for asylum, then forced back into Mexico to await their court date. But, there is a back up of 700,000 cases and they may not have their court date for years. That may discourage them from waiting and cause them to accept asylum from Mexico or to return home.
The new policy will see 240 to 250 asylum applicants sent back into Mexico daily.
There are roughly 60 asylum seekers a day who are sent back to Mexico at the El Paso, Calexico and San Ysidro ports of entry. These individuals are permitted to return to the U.S. for their court dates, but with a backlog of over 700,000 immigration cases, they might wait years for their cases to progress through the system. Numerous immigration hardliners — including President Donald Trump — argue that many migrants are lodging bogus asylum claims as a means to enter the U.S.
“You have people coming, you know they’re all met by the lawyers … And they come out, and they’re met by the lawyers, and they say, ‘Say the following phrase: I am very afraid for my life. I am afraid for my life.’ OK,” the president said during a speech in Michigan on Thursday. “And then I look at the guy. He looks like he just got out of the ring. He’s a heavyweight champion of the world. It’s a big fat con job.”
Immigration officials aim to return as many as 300 migrants a day by the end the week. However, the plan has so far been slow to develop. In San Ysidro, for example, the Mexican government has been willing to take in up to 120 asylum seekers a week, but the U.S. has only sent back 40 per week during the first six weeks.