U.S. Begins Tough New Policy On Asylum Seekers

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration has begun enforcing radical new restrictions on who qualifies for asylum as tens of thousands of migrants wait on the Mexican border, seeking refuge.  The new U.S. policy would effectively deny asylum to nearly all migrants arriving at the southern border who aren’t from Mexico. It would disallow anyone who passes through another country without first seeking and failing to obtain asylum there.  The rule will fall most heavily on Central Americans, mainly Hondurans and Guatemalans, because they account for most people arrested or stopped at the border.  But it also represents an enormous setback for other asylum seekers, including large numbers of Africans, Haitians and Cubans who try to enter the United States by way of the Mexican border.