House Republicans push asylum restrictions, border security
April 20, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans for months have railed against the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S.
US to test expedited asylum screenings at Mexico border
April 7, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Migrants who enter the United States illegally will be screened by asylum officers while in custody under a limited experiment that provides them access to legal counsel, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday.
UK says plan to stop Channel migrants pushes bounds of law
March 7, 2023 GMTLONDON (AP) — The U.K. government said Tuesday that it was ready for human-rights legal challenges to a tough new law intended to stop tens of thousands of migrants a year reaching the country in small boats across the English Channel.
UK aims to deport Channel migrants, but critics skeptical
March 6, 2023 GMTLONDON (AP) — The British government said Monday it will introduce legislation to ban anyone who arrives in the U.K. in small boats across the English Channel from ever settling in the country.
The government said a bill — expected to be announced Tuesday — will bar asylum claims by anyone who reaches Britain by unauthorized means, and will compel the government to detain and then deport them “to their home country or a safe third country.”
Cyprus court detains Syrian suspected of migrant trafficking
February 25, 2023 GMTNICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A Cyprus court on Saturday ordered the detention for six days of a Syrian man suspected of illegally bringing 21 Syrian migrants to the east Mediterranean island nation aboard a boat.
US to limit asylum to migrants who pass through a 3rd nation
February 22, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Tuesday that it will generally deny asylum to migrants who show up at the U.S. southern border without first seeking protection in a country they passed through, mirroring an attempt by the Trump administration that never took effect because it was blocked in court.
Nearly 1 million asylum requests in the EU in 2022
February 22, 2023 GMTBARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Nearly 1 million people applied for international protection in the European Union in 2022, according to data published Wednesday, bringing the number of asylum requests to a level not seen since the refugee crisis of 2015-2016.
Ex-Wagner Group member apologizes to Ukrainians in Norway
January 31, 2023 GMTCOPENHAGEN (AP) — A former member of the Russian private military contractor Wagner Group who's seeking asylum in Norway has apologized to Ukrainians living in the Scandinavian country, who object to his presence there.
Online system to seek asylum in US is quickly overwhelmed
January 28, 2023 GMTTIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Hours before sunrise, migrants at one of Mexico’s largest shelters wake up and go online, hoping to secure an appointment to try to seek asylum in the U.S. The daily ritual resembles a race for concert tickets when online sales begin for a major act, as about 100 people glide their thumbs over phone screens.
Afghan soldier seeking US asylum hopes for ‘American dream’
January 28, 2023 GMTHOUSTON (AP) — In the months he was held in detention in Texas during his legal fight to remain in the U.S., Afghan soldier Abdul Wasi Safi thought he would eventually be returned to his home country and meet a likely death at the hands of the Taliban because of his work with the U.S.
Afghan soldier seeking US asylum freed from immigration hold
January 25, 2023 GMTHOUSTON (AP) — An Afghan soldier seeking U.S. asylum who was arrested while trying to cross the Mexico border has been freed and reunited with his brother after spending months in immigration detention, his attorney said Wednesday.
Norway detains former top Wagner Group member seeking asylum
January 23, 2023 GMTCOPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A former high-ranking member of the Russian private military contractor Wagner Group seeking asylum in Norway is in custody on suspicion of entering the Scandinavian country illegally, authorities said Monday.
Afghan soldier seeks asylum after arrest at US-Mexico border
January 21, 2023 GMTHOUSTON (AP) — Abdul Wasi Safi kept documents detailing his time as an Afghan soldier who worked with the U.S. military close to him as he made the monthslong, treacherous journey from Brazil to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Greek minister says migrant arrival numbers sharply down
January 17, 2023 GMTATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s migration minister says the number of migrants arriving in Greece has dropped dramatically over the past two years, while the number of asylum-seekers living in the country has also fallen.
UK plan to send migrants to Rwanda faces new court challenge
January 16, 2023 GMTLONDON (AP) — British judges gave the go-ahead on Monday for the Court of Appeal to consider challenges to the U.K. government’s plan to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda.
High-ranking Wagner Group member seeks asylum in Norway
January 16, 2023 GMTCOPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Russian man who reportedly is a former high-ranking member of the Russian private military contractor Wagner Group, has sought asylum in Norway, authorities said Monday.
US launches online system to seek asylum on Mexican border
January 13, 2023 GMTSAN DIEGO (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday launched an online appointment system as the only way for migrants to get exceptions from pandemic-era limits on asylum — the U.S. government's latest major step in eight days to overhaul border enforcement.
Numbers of refugees, asylum-seekers increase in Germany
January 11, 2023 GMTBERLIN (AP) — More than 244,000 people applied for asylum in Germany last year, and more than 1 million Ukrainian refugees came to the country looking for shelter from Russia's war, the government said Wednesday.
Message from US asylum hopefuls: Financial sponsors needed
January 6, 2023 GMTMIAMI (AP) — Migrants and asylum seekers fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries have increasingly found that protections in the United States are available to those with money or the savvy to find someone to vouch for them financially.
Mexico draws more asylum-seekers despite grisly violence
December 28, 2022 GMTTIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Albert Rivera knows well how dangerous Mexico can be: He sometimes wears a bulletproof vest around the compound of bright yellow buildings that he built into one of the nation's largest migrant shelters.
Migrants near US border face cold wait for key asylum ruling
December 23, 2022 GMTEL PASO, Texas (AP) — Hairdresser Grisel Garcés survived a harrowing, four-month journey from her native Venezuela through tropical jungles, migrant detention centers in southern Mexico and then jolting railcar rides north toward the U.S.
Migrants flee more countries, regardless of US policies
December 22, 2022 GMTTIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — In 2014, groups of unaccompanied children escaping violence in Central America overwhelmed U.S. border authorities in South Texas.
Rights body urges Belgium to better assist asylum-seekers
December 21, 2022 GMTBRUSSELS (AP) — Europe’s top human rights body is urging Belgian authorities to provide better assistance to asylum-seekers after hundreds of people slept on Brussels streets in freezing temperature in recent weeks.
Mexican ambassador expelled from Peru over meddling claims
December 21, 2022 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — In a roller-coaster day for Mexico’s relations with Peru, Mexico announced Tuesday it had granted asylum for the family of ousted Peruvian president Pedro Castillo. Hours later, Peru declared the Mexican ambassador to Lima persona non grata and ordered him to leave within 72 hours.
Court: UK plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda is legal
December 19, 2022 GMTLONDON (AP) — Britain's High Court ruled Monday that a plan to send asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda is legal but the government must consider the circumstances of each case before deporting anyone, a judgment that sets the controversial policy up for further legal battles.
US court rejects maintaining COVID-19 asylum restrictions
December 17, 2022 GMTREYNOSA, Mexico (AP) — Restrictions that have prevented hundreds of thousands of migrants from seeking asylum in the U.S. in recent years remained on track to expire in a matter of days after an appeals court ruling Friday, as thousands more migrants packed shelters on Mexico’s border with the U.S.
EXPLAINER: Will immigration surge as asylum rule ends?
December 15, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Since the pandemic began, the United States has been using a public health rule designed to limit the spread of disease to expel asylum-seekers on the southern border.
Title 42, as it's called, has been used more than 2.5 million times to expel migrants since March 2020, although that number includes people who repeatedly attempted to cross the border.
Costa Rica tightens overwhelmed asylum system
December 14, 2022 GMTSAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rica, one of the world’s great refuges for people fleeing persecution, is tightening its generous asylum policies in the face of an overwhelmed system.
President Rodrigo Chaves, who took office in May, said Costa Rica’s system is being abused by economic migrants.
UK’s Sunak vows to clear asylum backlog, return Albanians
December 13, 2022 GMTLONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged Tuesday to clear a backlog of asylum-seeker applications as he announced new measures aimed at curbing the number of migrants reaching the U.K.
US appeals ruling that would lift asylum restrictions
December 8, 2022 GMTSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. government said Wednesday it is appealing a court ruling that would lift asylum restrictions that have become the cornerstone of border enforcement in recent years.
But there was no indication that the appeal would scuttle a Dec.