"Catch and return": U.S. asylum seekers will have to wait in Mexico
By Kate Smith
/ CBS News
In a major Trump administration win, migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. will now wait in Mexico as they wait for an immigration judge to rule on their case. Under the new plan, asylum seekers will be sent back to Mexico until they are scheduled to appear in front of an immigration judge, a process that can take up to four years, according to the American Immigration Council, a legal group.
Asylum seekers have been allowed to live in the United States while wearing an ankle monitor as they waited for an immigration court date. In a statement, Kirstjen M. Nielsen, the secretary of Department of Homeland Security, said many never showed up to their court dates, creating a "catch and release" problem.
"Aliens trying to game the system to get into our country illegally will no longer be able to disappear into the United States, where many skip their court dates," wrote Nielsen. "Instead, they will wait for an immigration court decision while they are in Mexico. 'Catch and release' will be replaced with 'catch and return.'"
In November, the immigration court backlog reached one million cases, a record-high, according to Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
The implementation of the policy, which has been informally called "Remain in Mexico," will begin immediately, according to a statement from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
This is a developing story
First published on December 20, 2018
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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