特朗普政府本周有望巩固新规则,允许其迫使抵达美国边境的寻求庇护者到其他国家寻求庇护。
特朗普政府预计将公布允许政府官员向各国派遣寻求庇护者的措施美国已于11月19日星期二在联邦登记册上与美国进行了双边庇护协议的谈判。
据路透社报道,特朗普政府此前曾主张,寻求庇护者应该在他们抵达的第一个“安全”国家寻求庇护,但新规定试图允许政府将寻求庇护者送往参与国,即使寻求庇护者没有通过他们抵达美国。
美国最近与洪都拉斯、萨尔瓦多和危地马拉签署了“安全第三国”协议,这三个中美洲国家统称为“北三角”,成千上万寻求庇护的家庭为了到达美国边境而逃离。
在美国公民的旅行指南中,美国国务院警告国民“重新考虑去洪都拉斯的旅行”中美洲国家被列为“三级”旅游顾问。
“暴力犯罪,如杀人和持械抢劫,是很常见的,”美国国务院网站称。“暴力帮派活动,如敲诈勒索、街头暴力犯罪、强奸、毒品和人口贩运十分普遍,”报告称,此前警告称,当地警方和应急服务机构也“缺乏足够的资源来有效应对严重犯罪。”
同时,国务院降低了对萨尔瓦多的咨询在与国家领导层签署安全的第三国协议几天后,从类似的3级排名升至2级。
尽管有二级旅游咨询,国务院同样警告游客,“暴力犯罪,如谋杀、袭击、强奸和持械抢劫,在萨尔瓦多很普遍”,而帮派活动,包括勒索和武器贩运也很普遍。
危地马拉还附有2级旅行警告。然而,截至2019年2月28日,由于暴力犯罪,包括抢劫和谋杀,至少有六个地区被列为三级地区。
尽管特朗普政府自己对美国公民发出了旅行警告,但它认为这三个国家都应该被视为寻求庇护者的安全目的地。
美国已经有了与加拿大的双边庇护协议这是2004年谈判达成的。
预计政府的新规定还将允许美国与其他国家签署类似的协议,从而引发特朗普政府可能认为哪些其他国家对逃离暴力和迫害的寻求庇护者“安全”的问题。
周一公布的这份概述新规则的文件称,寻求庇护者将有“机会”来“确定[人的生命或自由很可能会因为受保护的理由而在第三国受到威胁,或者[人会在第三国遭受酷刑。”
如果他们的担心被认定是可信的,寻求庇护者将不会被转移到“安全的第三国”。
然而,在特朗普政府执政期间,移民倡导者警告称,寻求庇护者在“可信的恐惧”采访中面临越来越多的审查。
据报道,在一起诉讼中卫报,原告据称,妇女和儿童的人数在得克萨斯州的一个家庭拘留中心,通过第一次庇护官员面试的人从97%骤降到不到10%。
那些没有通过的人可能会在几天内被驱逐出美国。
2018年11月25日,墨西哥下加利福尼亚州蒂华纳市,一名裹着美国国旗的中美洲移民在靠近美墨边境的埃尔查帕拉尔过境点看着蒂华纳河几乎干涸的河床。特朗普政府将推出计划,将寻求庇护者送往美国认为“安全”的其他国家寻求庇护。
NEW TRUMP ADMINISTRATION RULE WILL ALLOW U.S. TO FORCE ASYLUM SEEKERS TO SEEK REFUGE IN COUNTRIES WITH LEVEL 3 TRAVEL WARNINGS
The Trump administration is on track to solidify new rules this week that would allow it to force asylum seekers arriving at the U.S. border to seek refuge in other countries instead.
The Trump administration is expected to publish its measure allowing government officials to send asylum seekers to countries the U.S. has negotiated bilateral asylum agreements with in the Federal Register on Tuesday, November 19.
While the Trump administration had previously argued that asylum seekers should be expected to seek refuge in the first "safe" country they arrive in, the new regulation seeks to allow the government to send asylum seekers to participating countries even if asylum seekers did not transit through them to get to the U.S., according to Reuters.
Among the countries that the U.S. has recently signed "Safe Third Country" agreements with are Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, the three Central American nations collectively known as the "Northern Triangle" that thousands of asylum-seeking families have fled in their bid to reach the U.S. border.
In its own travel guidance for American citizens, the U.S. State Department warns nationals to "reconsider travel" to Honduras, with the Central American country being listed with a "level 3" travel advisory.
"Violent crime, such as homicide and armed robbery, is common," the State Department's website states. "Violent gang activity, such as extortion, violent street crime, rape, and narcotics and human trafficking is widespread," it says, before warning that local police and emergency services also "lack sufficient resources to respond effectively to serious crime."
Meanwhile, the State Department downgraded its advisory for El Salvador from a similar level 3 ranking to a level 2 just days after signing its safe third country deal with the nation's leadership.
Despite the level 2 travel advisory, the State Department similarly warns travelers that "violent crime, such as murder, assault, rape and armed robbery, is common" in El Salvador, while gang activity, including extortion and arms trafficking is also widespread.
Guatemala is also accompanied with a level 2 travel warning. However, as of February 28, 2019, at least six areas were listed as level 3 regions due to violent crime, including robbery and murder, being common.
Despite its own travel warnings for American citizens, the Trump administration has argued that all three countries should be considered safe destinations for asylum seekers.
Already, the U.S. has a bilateral asylum agreement with Canada, which was negotiated in 2004.
The government's new regulation is also expected to allow the U.S. to sign similar deals with other countries, raising questions around which other nations the Trump administration might deem "safe" for asylum seekers fleeing violence and persecution.
As the document outlining the new rule, which was released on Monday for public inspection, states, asylum seekers would be given the "opportunity" to "establish that it would be 'more likely than not' that [their] life or freedom would be threatened in the third country on account of a protected ground or that [they] would be tortured in the third country."
If their fears are determined to be credible, asylum seekers will not be removed to the "safe third country."
Under the Trump administration, however, immigration advocates have warned that asylum seekers have faced growing scrutiny in their "credible fear" interviews.
In one lawsuit reported on by The Guardian, plaintiffs alleged that the number of women and children at a family detention center in Texas who passed their first interviews with asylum officers had plunged from 97 percent to less than 10 percent.
Those who do not pass could be deported from the U.S. within a matter of days.
A Central American migrant wrapped in a U.S. flag looks at the almost dry riverbed of the Tijuana River near the El Chaparral border crossing near the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana, Baja California State, Mexico, on November 25, 2018. The Trump administration is set to roll out plans to send asylum seekers to other countries the U.S. deems 'safe' places to seek refuge.