CBP-officers illegaly turning away asylum-seekers, citing non-existent law of Trump-administration

[DetlefK]

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/5/24/1665651/-Border-agents-have-illegally-turned-away-asylum-seekers-new-report-claims

According to a new report from Human Rights First, agents from Customs and Border Protection—an agency riddled with so much corruption that DHS last year said it constituted “a national security threat”—have been “turning away foreign nationals who arrive at the Mexican border seeking asylum from persecution in their homelands.” Not only is this morally reprehensible, it’s illegal. Under the law, CBP agents are to take any individuals seeking asylum “into custody, and eventually direct them to an asylum officer who assesses the validity of their claim.” But according to some of the cases described in the Human Rights First report, agents have reportedly told asylum seekers that “Trump says we don’t have to let you in,” and “the United States is not giving asylum anymore”:

The May report by Human Rights First does not cite a specific number of rejections, but it said that its researchers had their survey on 125 cases of individuals and families denied access at border ports of entry. Some of them are Cubans and Central Americans who likely were headed to Miami to join relatives.

CBP officials denied that their border officers are rejecting asylum seekers, but did not specifically deny the cases cited in the Human Rights First report or the prior AIC complaint.

...

Because there is official protocol CBP agents are to follow whenever they encounter asylum seekers at the border, the main question here is if agents are willingly ignoring the law, or are ignorant of the law. Either of these is unacceptable, and incredibly disturbing considering the Trump administration is seeking to ramp up his deportation force by relaxing hiring standards in order to recruit more agents. According to one former official, CBP’s corruption rate already “exceeds that of any other U.S. federal law-enforcement agency.” Now, the federal government could soon be taking in a flood of wholly unqualified newbies, even as current agents are illegally turning asylum seekers away. So much for being that “law and order” candidate.



-----------

They don't do that. Okay, they did it in at least 125 cases, but in general they don't do that.