The US Supreme Court has temporarily upheld new rules on asylum applications thereby allowing them to take effect
The southern border of the US has effectively been closed to the vast number of migrants seeking sanctuary in that country.
The US Supreme Court has upheld new rules promulgated by the Trump administration which means US authorities can reject asylum seekers unless they have first applied for asylum in a country they crossed on the way. A federal appeals court had blocked the controversial policy which is designed to reduce asylum applications, but the Supreme Court decision allows it to go into effect even as legal challenges move forward.
Migrants must now apply for asylum in the first country in which they arrive and be denied asylum there before applying in the US. The Trump Administration said it planned on implementing the policy as soon as possible.
The policy affects tens of thousands of Central American migrants who commonly cross Mexico, and possibly other countries, before reaching the southern border of the US and will also affect migrants from Cuba, Africa, and South America. The Supreme Court ruling effectively means those who have arrived since this new policy was announced in July can now be turned back with very few exceptions.
Immigration rights advocates say the rule ignores decades of asylum policy and US immigration law and does not take into account the manner in which a refugee arrives in the US when determining the validity of an asylum request.
