Donald Trump Closes Southern Border to Migrants, Asylum Seekers

President Donald Trump has ordered border agencies to quickly return all migrants from Mexican territory, regardless of routine asylum laws, according to the New York Times.

The New York Times, citing information from four administration officials, said:

The Trump administration plans to immediately turn back all asylum seekers and other foreigners attempting to enter the United States from Mexico illegally, saying the nation cannot risk allowing the coronavirus to spread through detention facilities and border patrol agents.

But under the new rule, set to be announced in the next 48 hours, border patrol agents would immediately return anyone to Mexico — without any detainment and without any due process — who attempts to cross the southwestern border between the legal ports of entry. They would not be held for any length of time in an American facility.

The decision reduces the danger that the coronavirus will be brought into ICE detention centers by additional migrants.

Trump’s new tariff plan barrels back to court following multistate lawsuit

Black Democrats Unleash on Jasmine Crockett After Embarrassing Primary Loss

Trump’s new DHS pick is an illegal immigration hawk who’s ‘all about the mission’: expert

White Police Officers Sue Philadelphia Over DEI Promotions, Say They Were Passed Over for Political Reasons

Kristi Noem’s ouster ‘changes nothing’ for Democrats blocking DHS funding

NORAD Launches US Fighter Jets as Russian Military Aircraft Enter American Air Defense Identification Zone

Virginia Dems mandate Jan. 6 be taught as ‘violent insurrection,’ ban election fraud claims in schools

Trump Turns Up Heat on Republicans, Pressures Them to Pass SAVE Act: ‘Country Defining Fight for the Soul of Our Nation!’

Pentagon policy chief grilled as Dem claims Trump broke promise about going to war with Iran

Georgia sheriff arrested on DUI charge after blood alcohol content was allegedly almost triple legal limit

Small plane crashes into Phoenix home minutes after takeoff, injuring 3

‘Third-party’ auditor investigating Minnesota fraud received millions in state Medicaid funds

Macron vows nuclear arsenal boost as Europe turns to nukes amid rising global threats

‘Under siege’: Inside the growing radical Islam threat critics say is hiding in plain sight in deep red Texas

Walz-Ellison administration ‘enabled’ Minnesota’s fraud scandal: Guy Benson

The short report does not explain the legal rationale for the decision, which puts a final closure on the much-diminished 2019 inflow from Central America. But Section 212(f) of the 1965 immigration act says:

Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.

Business groups strongly dislike this 212(f) rule, which can raise Americans’ wages by choking off the flow of blue-collar migrants into Americans’ workplaces during a growing economy.

The southern border will stay open for Americans, foreigners with proper documents, and for trade, the New York Times continued:

The administration officials said the ports of entry would remain open to American citizens, green-card holders and foreigners with proper documentation. Some foreigners would be blocked, including Europeans currently subject to earlier travel restrictions imposed by the administration. The points of entry will also be open to commercial traffic.

The New York Times‘ report was also silent about the northern border, which is open to many of the travelers from China who have been welcomed by the Canadian government during the last several weeks.