Shut out of the U.S., Central American migrants apply for asylum in Europe

In a way, President Trump's toughening asylum policies are working.

From forcing Central Americans to stay in Mexico as their immigration cases play out, to proposing a sneaky ban on their asylum hearings altogether, Trump has spent his presidency enacting policies that make it harder to claim and win asylum in the U.S. Those policies have some migrants avoiding the trek north to the U.S., instead opting to try their luck in Europe instead, The New York Times reports.

Getting into the U.S. to claim asylum is no easy task, with migrants from Mexico and Central America often paying smugglers to take them on a dangerous journey across the border. Those trips can cost upwards of $10,000 per person, and potential asylees can't even be sure if they'll make it all the way. That fact, along with Trump's harsher asylum policies, prompted one El Salvadoran woman to tell the Times that "going to the United States would be crazy right now." She saved up enough money to fly to Brussels and claimed asylum there.

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And she's not alone. Nearly 7,800 Central American migrants applied for asylum in Europe last year, a 4000 percent increase from a decade earlier. Just 4,835 Central American migrants applied for the status in 2017, EU figures show. They're largely starting to realize that, unlike in the U.S., people don't need a visa to enter Europe, and can just say they're traveling on vacation before applying for asylum status.

For now, EU officials have noted the increase, but aren't too worried about handling it or housing the claimants. Compare that to the U.S.'s overflowing migrant shelters, and the the disparities between these two asylum situations become even more obvious. Read more at The New York Times.