The Trump administration remains hellbent on preventing migrants from seeking refuge from treacherous conditions in their homelands, as it ratchets up the cruelty at our Southern Border.
This weekend, as migrants attempted to cross the border at the San Diego-Tijuana crossing at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, U.S. Customs and Border Protection deployed tear gas on the migrants, including young children and babies, closing the port for several hours. Though there were no reported serious injuries, the use of tear gas — as explained by the Washington Post — has proven to be potentially deadly in certain cases.
Steven Choi, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition, issued the following statement:
“It’s absolutely horrifying to watch our country prove its strength by punching down at families and children fleeing violence. People are not set pieces in this administration’s theater of cruelty; they’re human beings entitled to dignity and the full protection of the law. Gassing babies in the name of national security is insane and illegal.”
The events continue the indirect, underhanded methods the Trump administration is utilizing to prevent migrants from seeking asylum, despite U.S. law that allows migrants fleeing dangerous conditions to apply for asylum relief.
Reports have emerged that show that Trump has made a deal with incoming Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador to keep migrants in Mexico while they wait for their asylum claims to be processed.
Mexico should move the flag waving Migrants, many of whom are stone cold criminals, back to their countries. Do it by plane, do it by bus, do it anyway you want, but they are NOT coming into the U.S.A. We will close the Border permanently if need be. Congress, fund the WALL!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2018
Previously, Trump attempted to rewrite these asylum laws by trying to implement a policy mandating that immigrants must appear at ports of entry to be eligible for asylum. But, a federal judge recently blocked the administration from implementing this policy, as Long Island Wins reported. Coupled with reports saying that these ports have often been closed off, it is evident that the White House is trying to block as many peaceful asylum-seekers as possible, all under the pretense of national security in the name of the anti-immigrant agenda.
