WASHINGTON, D.C. — Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen announced this morning that asylum seekers arriving to the United States will be returned to Mexico while they await their court appearances.
The following is a statement from Jacinta Ma, Director of Policy and Advocacy at the National Immigration Forum:
“The administration is creating additional chaos at the border, not reducing it. Today’s announcement, ‘effective immediately,’ comes with no regulations or guidance. It is impossible to see how officials will be able to implement these changes in an orderly fashion.
“This policy squelches due process for people seeking asylum. We do not know where asylum seekers will go or be placed in Mexico, and neither will attorneys who might represent them.
“As a nation, we must respond to humanitarian situations with compassion and common sense. We must not lose sight of our fundamental values. Today’s announcement sends a terrible message to our neighbors and to the world.”