Washington .- The Trump administration is reported to be considering a new executive order aimed at blocking asylum seekers and immigrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, as a caravan of migrants continues to make its way north through Mexico.
News reports quoting unnamed administration officials say authorities are weighing a range of administrative and legal actions on grounds of national security to restrict the ability of migrants to seek asylum.
Although no decision has reportedly been made yet, immigration attorneys told VOA the move would be quickly challenged in court.
Some reports have suggested a complete border closure is under consideration, but analysts consider such a move politically impossible because of the billions of dollars in commerce between the U.S. and Mexico.
Instead, the administration is likely aiming for a narrower action particularly targeting asylum seekers who arrive in the United States without traveling through regular border crossings.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told reporters in California Friday that “everything is on the table’’ as the administration considers new measures to stop illegal immigration.
The development comes Friday as Mexico increased its efforts to stop the caravan from reaching the United States, offering temporary identification papers and jobs to migrants who register for asylum in Mexico. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said migrants must remain in the southern states of Chiapas and Oaxaca to qualify for the plan.
Leon Fresco, a former U.S. Department of Justice official and immigration attorney, said any presidential action aimed at curbing the ability of people who are able to reach the U.S. from seeking asylum would face a difficult legal battle — even if it relies on the president’s travel ban, which was upheld by the Supreme Court. VOA