Migrants will be forced to remain in Mexico while asylum claims are weighed, US and Mexico agree
WASHINGTON - Thousands of migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. will be forced to wait in Mexico while their cases are considered - a process that can often take well over a year - the Trump administration and Mexico's government announced Thursday.
The dramatic change in long-standing U.S. policy will alter life for tens of thousands of Central Americans stuck on the border.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen hailed the shift as a "historic" measure that would "bring the illegal immigration crisis under control."
"'Catch and release' will be replaced with 'catch and return,'" Nielsen said in a statement.
But opponents called the move a misguided denial of a well-established legal right to seek protection in the U.S. from persecution in other countries.
Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat and the incoming chairman of the
