U.S., Mexico set for talks on curbs to asylum

Follows surprise change to rules for applicants

MEXICO City • The chief diplomats of mexico and the united states plan to meet on sunday for talks about a new u.s. rule restricting asylum applications from Central american migrants that would burden mexico’s overwhelmed refugee agency.

mexican Foreign minister marcelo Ebrard will meet with u.s. secretary of state mike Pompeo in mexico City to discuss migration, trade and a development plan for Central america, Ebrard said on twitter. Pompeo is stopping in mexico as part of a tour of latin america.

a surge of Central american migrants passing through mexico to seek asylum in the u.s. has led to both friction and cooperation between the u.s. and mexico.

u.s. officials say asylum seekers, mostly from Guatemala, Honduras and El salvador, have inundated the u.s. side of the border after travelling north through mexico. the three countries suffer from gang violence and political turmoil.

President donald trump’s administration has responded by restricting the ability of migrants to seek asylum and cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the three impoverished countries, punishing them for the northward migration.

under u.s. pressure, mexico has agreed to accept asylum seekers while the u.s. government processes their applications.

on monday, the u.s. went a step further, blindsiding mexico by unveiling a new rule to bar almost all immigrants from applying for asylum at the southern border, requiring them to first pursue safe haven in a third country, such as mexico, through which they travelled to reach the u.s.

several immigrant advocacy groups branded the new rule as illegal, and the american Civil liberties union promised a lawsuit to stop it.

trump presented a bill to his cabinet on tuesday aimed at boosting border security and overhauling the current immigration system to make it more merit-based.

meanwhile, the u.s. House of representatives voted to condemn President donald trump for “racist comments” against four minority democratic congresswomen, a symbolic vote aimed at shaming trump and his fellow republicans who stood by him.

tempers flared tuesday in the hours leading up to the vote that mainly split along party lines, the culmination of three days of outrage sparked by a trump tweetstorm that diverted attention from all other business in Washington.

trump had told the group of congresswomen to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”