Policy shift means uneasy wait in Mexico for asylum seekers
Posted March 15, 2019 7:55 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TIJUANA, Mexico — More asylum seekers are being forced to wait in Mexico while their cases wind through clogged U.S. immigration court.
The Trump administration introduced the major policy change in January amid a surge of families from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador arriving at the Mexico border.
Some who are waiting in Mexico struggle to get settled and find legal advice, and say they feel unsafe.
Change is being introduced slowly, with only 240 people being returned to Tijuana from San Diego in the first six weeks. But the administration expanded its “Migrant Protection Protocols” strategy this week to a second border crossing, in Calexico, California, and officials say the practice will grow along the entire border.
Elliot Spagat, The Associated Press
