United States President Donald Trump, within hours of assuming office, has shut the US-Mexico border to migrants seeking asylum in the country.
This marked a significant shift from prior procedures, leaving numerous hopeful asylum seekers stranded and uncertain about their futures.
This unprecedented closure combines elements from policies instituted by both Trump and former President Joe Biden, nearly sealing the southern border to asylum seekers.
With refugee admissions also halted, those in need of protection now face few, if any, viable options.
Last summer, the Biden administration issued an executive action restricting asylum for migrants who entered the country illegally, a move criticized by Democrats and immigrant advocates.
Officials under Biden defended the decision, emphasizing the availability of the CBP One app, which allowed migrants to schedule appointments at legal ports of entry.
However, this avenue was abruptly eliminated mere minutes after Trump’s inauguration, leaving thousands of hopeful migrants stranded in border towns across Mexico.
Among those affected is Luis, a Venezuelan migrant residing in Ciudad Juarez for the past nine months, who shared his frustration with CNN’s Valeria León.
“I was trying to do things the right way,” he said after discovering that his scheduled appointment through the CBP One app had been canceled.
Yenyile Díaz, also from Venezuela, has been waiting with her family in Ciudad Juarez for months. She expressed deep disappointment, saying, “We all lost our appointments following the shutdown of CBP One.”
President of the Migration Policy Institute, Andrew Selee, noted the scale of the shift in asylum access.
“The Biden administration had restricted asylum while offering some alternative legal pathways, hoping the policy would hold up in court. Today, there is virtually no way to seek protection at the U.S. border or en route to the United States,” he explained.
Republican lawmakers have long argued that the U.S. asylum system is subject to abuse, claiming that some migrants use asylum claims as a means to enter the country for economic reasons rather than fleeing violence or persecution.
Under asylum law, individuals must demonstrate they face significant danger in their home country or would be unable to return safely.
Asylum claims often take years to process, with some ultimately being denied.
In a bold executive order signed on Monday, Trump effectively suspended U.S. asylum law, citing an “invasion at the southern border.” The order directs federal agencies to “repel, repatriate, or remove” migrants attempting to cross into the U.S.
An ACLU attorney who previously challenged Trump’s border policies, Lee Gelernt, criticized the decision.
“Eliminating all avenues to seek asylum, even for families with children fleeing for their lives, is a stunning development. It undermines our post-WWII commitment never to send people back to danger,” he said in a statement.
Migrants already faced barriers to asylum under the Covid-era Title 42 policy, which allowed border authorities to turn people back without processing their claims.
Though this policy was contested in court, its effects lingered.
Trump inherits a relatively quiet border, as Biden’s asylum restrictions had already led to a sharp decline in crossings.
However, Homeland Security officials warn that migration flows may rise again. “They may wait to see what happens, whether for a day or a few months,” a Homeland Security official noted. “If they’ve come this far, they’re likely to try again eventually.”
For some migrants, the situation feels hopeless. Johana Conde, a Cuban migrant currently in Piedras Negras, shared her uncertainty.
“They say they want immigrants in the United States, but legal ones. We’ve done everything legally. Right now, we don’t know what’s going to happen,” she told CNNE.
