ASYLUM

In a follow up to Newsy's original documentary "Asylum," Kate Grumke heads to El Salvador to examine the root causes of surging migration to the U.S.

House of Horror Haunted Carnival is making its spooky return to Miami International Mall for the first time since 2018. From September 30 until Halloween, those who enter the carnival will get to explore a “giant abandoned department store that has been overtaken and claimed.”

A federal appellate court has refused to delay implementation of a judge's order reinstating a Trump administration policy forcing thousands to wait in Mexico while seeking asylum in the U.S. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the ruling late Thursday.

Only half the adults and children scheduled to be sent back to Central America were eligible to travel Friday.

Asylum seekers on U.S. border await details on new Biden policy as others forgo official process Asylum seekers on the border are gaining entry into the United States to have their requests processed. Under former President Trump's "remain in Mexico" policy, asylum seekers crossing the border were forced to wait in Mexico until a future hearing. Now, President Biden's reversal of that policy has some seekers hopeful for change. Mireya Villarreal reports.

SAN DIEGO – A U.S. judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration’s most sweeping set of asylum restrictions less than two weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. The court order has limited immediate impact because the government has largely suspended asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border during the coronavirus pandemic, citing public health concerns. He said it was the fifth time a court has ruled against Homeland Security on the same grounds. Any foreigner who steps on U.S. soil has a legal right to apply for asylum, according to U.S. asylum law and international treaty obligations. Donato took issue with how people came to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

Asylum is a form of protection available to certain immigrants in the United States. In order to be granted asylum, a potential immigrant has to prove, among other things, that they have a credible fear for their life and safety should they return to their home country.

Today, the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security announced the publication of a Final Rule amending their respective regulations to prevent certain categories of criminal aliens from obtaining asylum in the United States. The rule takes effect 30 days after publication of the Final Rule in the Federal Register, which is scheduled to occur on Wednesday, Oct. 21. However, in the INA, Congress barred certain categories of aliens from receiving asylum. To ensure that criminal aliens cannot obtain this discretionary benefit, the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security have exercised their regulatory authority to limit eligibility for asylum for aliens who have engaged in specified categories of criminal behavior. Aliens who have committed certain domestic violence offenses, even if not convicted, will also be barred from asylum.

SAN DIEGO – The Trump administration on Thursday suspended immigration court hearings for asylum-seekers waiting in Mexico through June 1, bowing to public health concerns while extending a state of limbo those locked down in Mexican migrant shelters. While it is difficult to know precisely, the Justice Department estimated in late February that there were 25,000 people waiting in Mexico for hearings in U.S. court. Barely 1% of the nearly 45,000 “Return to Mexico” cases decided through March won asylum, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. The future of “Remain in Mexico” has become less certain after the administration temporarily suspended immigration laws using a 1944 public-health law, whisking Mexicans and Central Americans to the nearest border to be returned to Mexico without a chance to seek asylum. “We really can't commit to a case.”The Justice Department, which oversees immigration courts, has also suspended hearings for people who are released in the United States through May 15 in response to COVID-19, exacerbating a backlog of about 1.1 million cases.