The Trump administration is reviewing a proposal that would make immigrants who enter the country illegally ineligible for asylum, Vox reported Friday. Per a drafted Justice Department proposal — documents for which were reviewed by Vox — the government would make achieving asylum much more difficult in several respects.
While the proposal could still be changed before it is made public, the current draft proposes "the most severe restrictions on asylum since at least 1965," one expert told Vox.
It suggests a number of sweeping changes, including disqualifying immigrants who enter the country outside of a port of entry and officially making domestic violence and gang violence an ineligible reason to apply for asylum, as Attorney General Jeff Sessions floated earlier this month. The proposal additionally penalizes immigrants coming from Central America who don't ask Mexico for asylum first, and limits the number of appeals an asylum-seeker can make during their application process. For immigrants who enter the U.S. and then legally ask for asylum within the first year of residence, the plan would make misdemeanors like traffic violations a disqualifying offense.
The proposal, especially the part that requires immigrants to wait — possibly for several weeks or more — at a port of entry before requesting asylum, will likely face a legal challenge, reports Vox. But if even a portion of the proposed regulation is signed into law, it would become "nearly impossible" for immigrants to successfully navigate the asylum process. Read more at Vox.