Trump Reviews Further Tightening U.S. Borders to Stop Coronavirus Spread

President Trump is considering tightening asylum rules for foreign nationals trying to enter the United States at the nation’s southern and northern borders, a new report states, with the aim to stop the international spread of the Chinese coronavirus.

The rules would prevent, for at least 180 days, foreign nationals from seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders. Also, foreign nationals arriving by air to the U.S. would be ineligible for asylum if they had been in Mexico or Canada for 14 days prior.

Bloomberg News reports:

The Trump administration is expected to announce a 180-day ban on a range of asylum requests citing the threat posed by the coronavirus, according to two people familiar with the matter, in its latest effort to restrict immigration ahead of the Nov. 3 election. [Emphasis added]

Under the new rule, anyone entering or trying to enter the U.S. by land from Canada or Mexico would be ineligible for asylum — and subject to removal — because of potential national security threats to the U.S. amid the Covid-19 pandemic, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the rule hasn’t been made public. [Emphasis added]

The 180-day clock would start the day the rule is announced. Anyone who had been in Mexico or Canada in the preceding 14 days would also be ineligible even if they arrived by air. [Emphasis added]

The move would come in addition to a number of measures Trump has imposed on international travel and immigration to help slow the spread of the Chinese coronavirus into the U.S.

Already, Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy requires border crossers to stay in Mexico, instead of being freed into the U.S. interior, while they await their asylum hearings. Due to the coronavirus, Trump imposed travel bans on China, Iran, Europe, and Brazil and closed the southern and northern borders to nonessential travel.

The Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) Title 42 has allowed federal immigration officials to readily return border crossers back to their native countries within hours of their arrival in the U.S.

Although border crossings are far down from their peak in 2018 and 2019, they have increased slightly over the last five months. In September, for instance, nearly 55,000 border crossers were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.