Washington.
Attorneys General of 21 states and the District of Columbia today denounced a rule of President Donald Trump’s administration that should go into effect on January 11 that officials say represents and will represent the “ death of the asylum. ” lead to the deportation of people who have applied for it with valid reasons.
In early 2019, the Trump administration began to return tens of thousands of people who had arrived at the border to apply for asylum to Mexico, and this month it completed protocols for the application of similar agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
Lawyers for migrants, humanitarian and religious groups have pointed out that this policy forces men, women and children fleeing violence in their countries to wait for their applications to be dealt with under dangerous and precarious conditions.
The rule that the attorneys general of 22 states protested in court documents today adds demands and leaves the decision to grant or deny asylum to the discretion of immigration officials.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement that “ignoring those fleeing violence and persecution is not only illegal, but is contrary to the fundamental values of our nation.”
“The country in which we believe is a place of hope and opportunity,” added Becerra to whom the president-elect Joe Biden has been nominated as Minister of Health. “Nobody wins when President Trump tries to sweep people under the carpet and calls that a solution.”
According to the attorney general, the new rule undermines “the commitment” of the country and states to “provide a safe haven for asylum seekers who escape persecution by disrupting the current asylum system and increasing separation of families”.
The measure, they added, is harming the economies of the states and their labor force by removing essential workers and their contribution to economic activity. “
The documents have been submitted to the Northern California Federal District Court, where two lawsuits are being filed against the Department of Homeland Security on which a hearing will take place on January 7.
The attorneys general included in this presentation are from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania , Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.