Cardinal DiNardo The president of US bishops’ conference issued a statement last week condemning a newly-announced rule on asylum eligibility at the southern border, suggesting that countries like Mexico are not a safe final destination for asylum seekers, and encouraging the Trump administration to change the policy.
“The rule adds further barriers to asylum-seekers’ ability to access life-saving protection, shirks our moral duty, and will prevent the US from taking its usual leading role in the international community as a provider of asylum protection,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the USCCB.
Cardinal DiNardo also said that “initial analysis raises serious questions” about the new rule’s legal soundness. The new policy establishes that claimants are ineligible to apply for asylum in the US if they failed to first apply for asylum in any third country they passed through after departing their country of origin.
Practically, the new rule requires that asylum seekers travelling through Mexico from Central or South American countries must first apply for asylum in Mexico before being eligible to claim asylum in the US. The rule contains a number of exceptions.
Those who arrive at an American port of entry having passed through a country that has not signed up to certain refugee agreements are exempt, as are survivors of human trafficking. Those who apply for asylum in a pass-through country and are denied there may still claim asylum in the US.