At the border, some agents are telling asylum-seekers to come back 'later'
Under federal law, anyone who reaches a U.S. port of entry may make a claim for asylum. But now it appears U.S. Customs and Border Protection is adopting a new tactic to keep out immigrants – telling border agents to stop would-be asylum seekers before they reach a border checkpoint.
Veteran journalist Robert Moore, former editor of the El Paso Times, covers border issues for Texas Monthly. At a border crossing between El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, he observed the new approach.
“We saw officers from Customs and Border Protection stopping people at the top of the bridge, which is where the boundary is, which is very unusual,” Moore says. “Usually when you cross into El Paso the inspection is down at the bottom of the bridge, at the port of entry itself. But they were intercepting people, and if they found that they were Central Americans intending to apply for asylum, they were telling the Central Americans that they were at capacity and they couldn’t process them at this time, and to come back later. Although they would never say what ‘later’ meant.”
It’s unclear what consequences, if any, these individuals would face if they went ahead anyway.
Read more: http://www.texasstandard.org/stories/at-the-border-some-agents-are-telling-asylum-seekers-to-come-back-later/?_ga=2.248269383.1368761450.1528613754-1394827421.1528613754
