5 Things to Know About the Asylum Process and How It Works

-Source-Time- Many of the Trump administrations most controversial immigration policies have taken aim at the most vulnerable class of migrants: asylum seekers. President Trumps family separation policy was designed in part to target moms dads and children seeking asylum in the country while former Attorney General Jeff Sessions June opinion specifically made it more difficult for victims of gang and domestic violence to legally apply for protection here. In October the president ordered troops to the border to stave off a caravan" of roughly 5000 migrants many of whom are likely asylum seekers traveling by foot toward the southern border. And in early November the administration announced yet another new and highly controversial rule barring all migrants from seeking asylum for 90 days unless they enter the U.S. through an official port of entry. All of these policies have come to fruition at a time when the total number of asylum requests have skyrocketed nearly doubling in the last two years alone. In fiscal year 2008 fewer than 5000 people passed the first step in the asylum process at the U.S. border. By the end of fiscal year 2018 that number had reached 91786 marking a nearly 2000 increase. The spike is largely due to upticks in family units and minors traveling alone across the border.