In a major policy change, US President Donald Trump’s administration said on December 20 it would send non-Mexican migrants who cross the US southern border back to wait in Mexico while their asylum requests are processed. The two countries have held two meetings to work out details of the plan to return migrants seeking US asylum across the shared border. Serious doubts exist over whether Mexico can keep Central American asylum seekers who are fleeing poverty and crime safe, especially in border towns that are often more violent than the cities they left. It is unclear how Mexico plans to house what could be thousands of asylum seekers for the months - or years - it takes US immigration cases to be heard. Last year, about 93,000 people sought asylum at the southern border, up 67 percent from 2017, according to US government data.

Source: Dhaka Tribune January 24, 2019 23:26 UTC