DigitalGhost

Well they can. One can legally claim asylum in almost any country. They're just choosing not to file a claim until they reach the US.

DigitalGhost

What does the child being blind have to do with anything?

Siouxie

My point is this. Other people have tried to say that Mexico was a Safe Country and why were refugees trying to cross the border to the US.

Mexico is NOT a Safe Country and they would not be safe claiming asylum there.

What is so hard to understand????

Put yourself in their position. You have your partner and your children.. you have been walking for days, have been threatened, beaten, had your possessions stolen or lost.. if you try to apply for asylum, Mexico will put you in a detention centre until they send you back to Guatemala (or where ever you came from, it's not safe to go back, that's why you left) - violence is everywhere you look, you are constantly being threatened.. so you keep walking.. hungry, thirsty... your children are crying.. your only place of safety is to get to the border and ask for asylum in the US.

When you get there and cross and you want to ask for asylum, the US Government take your children away from you and put you in a detention camp... you don't know if you will ever see your children again and are told you will be imprisoned for crossing the border ... You're pretty much **d what ever you do

Ask for asylum in Mexico - and get shipped back to your originating country, where you will likely be killed... OR
Ask for asylum in the US - and get locked up and your children taken away... and who knows what after that.

DigitalGhost

I understand what you're saying however what evidence is there that Mexico will reject all asylum applicants regardless of origin? Also in terms of asylum claims both the UK and Canada view Mexico as a safe country for Mexican citizens at least.

While I don't agree with how Trump handled this, you can't blame the Administration for taking some sort of action and for trying to avoid the kind of scenes that have plagued parts of Europe in recent years. It's no secret that a lot of people are abusing refugee protection laws to take the piss. In 2017 alone, the UK received nearly 1000 asylum applications from Indian nationals, over 400 from Nigerians and even a few applications from citizens of South Korea and Peru.

And that's before we get into those who were trying to claim asylum in Canada because their legal status was coming to an end in the US and they didn't want to return home.

Siouxie

This is NOT about Europe or the UK... not even about those claiming in Canada - refugees or otherwise.

Don't try and muddy the water.

DigitalGhost

I'm not trying to muddy anything. My point was that abuse of asylum policy by would-be illegal immigrants is now a global problem and America really can't be blamed for saying enough is enough, no more than any other developed country can really.

There was an example earlier in this thread where someone from the Congo was petitioning against the US government based on her treatment during her refugee claim. Unless she was in America already on legal status, how the hell does someone manage to accidentally get from Africa to Texas without passing any other safe country along the way?

Before today I've heard of Chinese tour groups who have disappeared during a trip to central America and shown up in California claiming asylum based on communist party policy. The line really does need to be drawn somewhere in order to retain refugee policies and support services for those who really need them and are fleeing genuine persecution.

Siouxie

A refugee is a refugee, no matter where they come from or how they did it. They are seeking refuge from unlivable conditions or threats to their life, persecution can take many forms. The Chinese tour group - that may have been their only option if they wanted out of living under Communism, or from being persecuted? - If they had attempted it anywhere in Asia they would have been shipped straight back. Extreme, yes.. but how do you know what had led them to take that drastic step? Wouldn't you have tried to do the same thing if you were in their position?
Is it any different than Russians claiming Asylum during the Olympics all those years ago

From Congo to South America and on to Texas - by stowing away on a boat perhaps?

DigitalGhost

Not to play devils advocate but yes it is slightly different to that since leaving the Soviet Union was nearly impossible so they only had one shot to escape and couldn't have really gone anywhere else.

If I was in the position of these refugees then I'm sure I'd do the same thing but it's also well within the rights of any foreign government to try to prevent me from arriving and claiming asylum in their country.

bats

Seriously?

MarkG

If Mexico is not a safe country, shouldn't America build a wall or something to keep Mexicans out?

The simple fact is that the refugee business is about to collapse, because it's being so widely abused. While I wouldn't want to live in most parts of Mexico, if I was a legitimate refugee, I also wouldn't go there unless it was safer than wherever the heck I came from.

And the West saying 'no more' is going to hurt the real refugees far more than it hurts the masses of fake ones. Anyone who really cares about refugees should support doing anything possible to stop the fake ones who are causing the collapse of the system.

Snowy560

I work with refugee applications a lot. Not inland claims but through Canada's overseas program. You can't imagine the suffering and desperation people endure. One thing that sticks with me that I learnt during training is no one wants to become a refugee. And it can happen to anyone anytime. It could even happen to you.

Interestingly the US still takes the largest proportion of refugees for resettlement although the percentage has plummeted under Trump.

DigitalGhost

I'm quite sure that's true however a lot of people do seem to want to immigrate to other countries illegally and will exploit any route they can to do so.