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Home Front: Politix
Trump administration takes steps to close border to migrants, citing coronavirus
2020-03-18
Never let a crisis go to waste, right, Dems?
[SD Union Trib] The Trump administration is taking steps to close the southern border to certain migrants, citing the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

U.S. immigration authorities could soon begin immediately removing migrants who enter the U.S. between official ports of entry and turning them back to Mexico, saying it will help stanch the expansion of the pandemic, officials told The Times.

The administration has yet to formally announce the proposal, first reported by the New York Times on Tuesday night, but it is hammering out final details. Earlier Tuesday, administration officials began laying the groundwork for the shift.

Under the new policy, Border Patrol agents who apprehend Mexican adults attempting to cross the border between ports of entry will return them to Mexico at a nearby port of entry instead of detaining them, according to Brandon Judd, president of the union that represents 15,000 agents, the National Border Patrol Council.

Agents will have to check migrants' information, including criminal records, in the field. Equipment to help them perform those checks was already being distributed Tuesday, Judd said.

Judd, who is close to the Trump administration, added that the new policy could take effect as soon as Tuesday night.

"This will greatly limit the potential for spread of the coronavirus," he said. "The administration was looking at ways to minimize exposure."

The administration also began recalling asylum officers and other employees of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ‐ the arm of the Homeland Security Department that administers the legal immigration system ‐ from detention facilities and postings across the country on Tuesday.
Posted by:Frank G

#8  ^country
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2020-03-18 12:45  

#7  #6 That's what happens if you let Gringos into your copuntry!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2020-03-18 12:45  

#6  Mexico Confirms 11 New Coronavirus Cases in 24 Hours – 93 Total
Posted by: Frank G   2020-03-18 11:18  

#5  YES!

Si se puede!
Posted by: Lex   2020-03-18 09:43  

#4  THIS is how it is done.
Posted by: Hupomock Peacock5059   2020-03-18 09:35  

#3  "It's for the children!"
Posted by: Matt   2020-03-18 07:40  

#2  If you are going to put your own citizens in lock down, you have no argument about keeping the border being open.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2020-03-18 06:57  

#1  He, he, he.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2020-03-18 06:41  

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