US President vows migrant detention, asylum crackdown

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has said he plans to issue an executive order next week that will end the “abuse” of lax asylum laws and initiate unspecified measures on immigration, a top issue for Republican voters for the crucial mid-term elections next week. Trump offered no details of his plan but indicated the key element will an outright denial of asylum requests from anyone who entered the US illegally. Those who got in illegally will be held in detention centres till their requests are processed and then will be deported home.

Not a popular gateway into the US for most Indians, who have preferred the H-1B route for highly skilled foreign workers and employment-based options for decades, asylum has been used by Punjab-based agents of international human smugglers to offer a costlier — every trip costs Rs 25 lakh and more — and riskier alternative.

Hundreds of Indians go through this asylum route every year -- scores more are turned down and put on the next flight home -- but their claims are likely to face unprecedented scrutiny now if Trump goes through with his promise and issues an executive order next week irrespective of the poll outcome.

“Migrants seeking asylum will have to present themselves lawfully at a port of entry,” Trump said in remarks from the White House Thursday, adding, “Those who choose to break our laws and enter illegally will no longer be able to use meritless claims to gain automatic admission into our country. “We will hold them -- for a long time, if necessary.”

Trump’s speech was billed as a policy pronouncement but fast morphed into a familiar rendition of speeches he has delivered at election rallies at the rate of one every day — to talk up immigration to fire up his base, in view of the upcoming midterms. Immigration is a top issue for some Republicans.

“We will be doing an executive order sometime next week,” he said, taking questions from reporters after his remarks. “Yes, it's going to be talking about everything. It'll be quite comprehensive. Many of the things we've talked about today.” The White House could offer no more details. The US granted 20,455 people asylum in 2016, according to the most recent count made available by the US citizenship and immigration services. Of these, 383 were from India.