Trump Administration Announces ICE Raid Success, Changes To Asylum Law

By Steve Bynum
People wait to apply for asylum in the United States along the border, Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in Tijuana, Mexico. Dozens of immigrants lined up Tuesday at a major Mexico border crossing, waiting to learn how the Trump administration’s plans to end most asylum protections would affect their hopes of taking refuge in the United States
People wait to apply for asylum in the United States along the border, Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in Tijuana, Mexico. Dozens of immigrants lined up Tuesday at a major Mexico border crossing, waiting to learn how the Trump administration's plans to end most asylum protections would affect their hopes of taking refuge in the United States Gregory Bull / AP Photo
People wait to apply for asylum in the United States along the border, Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in Tijuana, Mexico. Dozens of immigrants lined up Tuesday at a major Mexico border crossing, waiting to learn how the Trump administration’s plans to end most asylum protections would affect their hopes of taking refuge in the United States
People wait to apply for asylum in the United States along the border, Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in Tijuana, Mexico. Dozens of immigrants lined up Tuesday at a major Mexico border crossing, waiting to learn how the Trump administration's plans to end most asylum protections would affect their hopes of taking refuge in the United States Gregory Bull / AP Photo

Trump Administration Announces ICE Raid Success, Changes To Asylum Law

By Steve Bynum
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President Trump claimed success in widely publicized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids on immigrant communities over the weekend, though local officials in many cities reported seeing little to no ICE activity. On Monday morning, six people were arrested during raids in Houston and at least four others detained there the previous day. The Trump administration also announced changes to asylum law on Monday, explaining that officials will deny asylum to Central American migrants who do not apply for protection in at least one of the countries they pass through on their way North. Guatemala and Mexico have not agreed to the plan, and it is expected that the new rule will face legal challenges in the U.S. 

With us to discuss ICE and the new asylum restrictions are Mony Ruiz-Velasco, an immigration lawyer, organizer and executive director of PASO, or the West Suburban Action Project, a community-based social justice organization, and Susan Gzesh, executive director of the Posen Center for Human Rights at the University of Chicago.