Mexican asylum seekers set their sights north — on Canada
November 27, 2022 GMTMONTREAL (AP) — Pedro Meraz says living in Colima, Mexico, was like living in a war zone, with shootings, burning cars and dismembered bodies being left outside of schools.
When his wife Rocio Gonzalez, a 28-year-old lawyer who worked with abused women, began receiving death threats from a cartel and the local authorities ignored her pleas for assistance, they knew they had to leave.
States move to keep court from lifting Trump asylum policy
November 22, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — A coalition of conservative-leaning states is making a last-ditch effort to keep in place a Trump-era public health rule that allows many asylum seekers to be turned away at the southern U.S.
Alaska asylum seekers are Indigenous Siberians from Russia
October 23, 2022 GMTANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Two Russian Indigenous Siberians were so scared of having to fight the war in Ukraine, they chanced everything to take a small boat across the treacherous Bering Sea to reach American soil, Alaska’s senior U.S.
Dutch PM is ashamed that migrants are left sleeping outside
August 26, 2022 GMTTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch leader said he is ashamed that hundreds of asylum-seekers have been forced to sleep in the sweltering heat outside an overcrowded migrant reception center, as his government announced measures Friday to ease the situation by providing more accommodations and temporarily restricting migration.
UK cancels first flight to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda
June 15, 2022 GMTLONDON (AP) — Britain canceled a flight that was scheduled to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda late Tuesday after the European Court of Human Rights intervened, saying the plan carried “a real risk of irreversible harm."
Mexico relocates migrant camp; Haitians appear at border
May 3, 2022 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican authorities said Tuesday they have relocated a migrant camp that sprung up in a park in the border city of Reynosa, moving about 2,000 people from Central American and Haiti to a shelter in the city, across the border from McAllen, Texas.
Migrant crossings spike as US plans to lift curb on asylum
April 19, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Migrants attempted to cross the U.S.-Mexico border at the highest level in two decades as the U.S. prepares for even larger numbers with the expected lifting of a pandemic-era order that turned away asylum seekers.
Idaho aims to join lawsuit against lifting asylum limits
April 12, 2022 GMTBOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho governor and attorney general said Tuesday they are seeking to add Idaho to the list of states that have filed a lawsuit to prevent federal officials from ending a public health rule that allows many asylum seekers to be turned away at the southern U.S.
Rights group: Greece used migrants to expel asylum seekers
April 7, 2022 GMTATHENS, Greece (AP) — Human Rights Watch on Thursday accused authorities in Greece of allegedly using migrants to help carry out summary, illegal deportations of asylum seekers at the country's border before they are able to register their claims.
Federal lawsuit seeks to block end to sweeping asylum limits
April 4, 2022 GMTPHOENIX (AP) — Conservative-led governments in Arizona, Louisiana and Missouri have sued President Joe Biden's administration to prevent federal officials from ending a public health rule that allows many asylum seekers to be turned away at the southern U.S.
Plan to lift ban on asylum seekers worries border city mayor
April 2, 2022 GMTSAN LUIS, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona border city's mayor has voiced concerns how his community will be affected by the Biden administration's plan to lift the ban on asylum-seekers at the U.S-Mexico border on public health grounds,
US seeks regional approach to migration and asylum seekers
March 15, 2022 GMTSAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Faced with the likelihood of eventually reopening its southern border to asylum seekers, the United States government is urging allies in Latin America to shore up immigration controls and expand their own asylum programs.
‘A safe place.’ For LGBT asylum seekers, a new shot at life
December 13, 2021 GMTWORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — The church volunteers assembled furniture and hung decorations in the newly renovated apartment building. They laid out nearly every necessity, down to the bath towels, bed linens, cooking supplies and televisions.
Cyprus wants EU support for migrant crackdown as flows rise
November 10, 2021 GMTNICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus said Wednesday it will seek European Union approval to stop processing asylum claims from migrants illegally entering the east Mediterranean island nation.
Government spokesman Marios Pelekanos said a surge of new migrant arrivals is fueling serious crime, taxing state coffers and altering the country’s demographics.
Haitians see history of racist policies in migrant treatment
September 24, 2021 GMTThe images — men on horseback with long reins, corralling Haitian asylum seekers trying to cross into the U.S. from Mexico — provoked an outcry. But to many Haitians and Black Americans, they're merely confirmation of a deeply held belief:
Mexico undecided on reinstating “remain in Mexico” policy
August 26, 2021 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department refused to say Wednesday whether the government will allow the U.S. to reinstate the “remain in Mexico” policy of sending asylum seekers back across the border to wait for hearings on asylum claims.
Supreme Court halts reinstating ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy
August 21, 2021 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is temporarily halting a judge's order that would have forced the government to reinstate a Trump administration policy forcing thousands to wait in Mexico while seeking asylum in the U.S.
Conditions worsen at asylum seekers’ camps in north Mexico
July 2, 2021 GMTTIJUANA, México (AP) — Crowding and unsanitary conditions are getting worse at informal camps set up in northern Mexico by asylum seekers waiting to make asylum claims in the United States.
Pima County to get $2.1M to cover costs of asylum seekers
April 15, 2021 GMTTUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — County officials in southern Arizona have said the federal government will provide $2...
Tucson to house asylum seekers, migrants at city hotels
April 13, 2021 GMTTUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — The city of Tucson has contracted with local hotels to temporarily house people seeking asylum in the U...
Arizona Attorney General sues over Biden’s border policies
April 12, 2021 GMTPHOENIX (AP) — Arizona's top state prosecutor sued the Biden administration Monday over what he calls “environmentally disruptive” decisions to halt border wall construction and change immigration policies...
Arizona town calls state of emergency over migrant arrivals
March 25, 2021 GMTPHOENIX (AP) — A small town in Arizona has declared a state of emergency over migrant families being dropped there as a growing number of border communities grapple with how to get the new arrivals to shelters in bigger cities that can help them...
UN: Thousands flee Ethiopia violence, seek asylum in Sudan
February 23, 2021 GMTCAIRO (AP) — At least 7,000 people who fled escalating ethnic violence in western Ethiopia have sought asylum in neighboring Sudan, the U...
Groups seek to stop Malaysia from deporting Myanmar migrants
February 22, 2021 GMTKUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Two human rights groups made a last-ditch legal bid on Monday to block Malaysia's plan to deport 1,200 Myanmar migrants, which they say include refugees, asylum seekers and minors...
Guatemala: US ending accord that sent asylum seekers back
February 6, 2021 GMTGUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala said Friday the U.S. government is ending an arrangement that sent asylum-seekers who reached U...
Pop-up school for US asylum seekers thrives despite pandemic
December 1, 2020 GMTMATAMOROS, Mexico (AP) — It started out simply: A pop-up school on a sidewalk to teach reading, writing, math and art to Central American children living in a camp of asylum seekers stuck at America's doorstep...
Mexico to stop holding child migrants in detention centers
November 12, 2020 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — The United Nations and other organizations are applauding changes to Mexico’s immigration law that would prohibit holding migrant children in immigration detention centers...
Trump ramps up expulsions of migrant youth, citing virus
May 13, 2020 GMTHOUSTON (AP) — The young migrants and asylum seekers swim across the Rio Grande and clamber into the dense brush of Texas...
Ethiopia’s new stance on Eritrean asylum-seekers criticized
April 21, 2020 GMTADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — A change in asylum procedure by Ethiopia's government is undermining neighboring Eritreans' access to asylum and denying unaccompanied children the necessary protection, Human Rights Watch asserted Tuesday.
The preventable death of an asylum seeker in a solitary cell
March 9, 2020 GMTRoylan Hernandez Diaz’s long journey ended inside a white-walled cell in the solitary confinement wing of a Louisiana prison...
US sending military police to two border crossings
March 6, 2020 GMTPHOENIX (AP) — The U.S. government says it is sending 160 military police and engineers to two official border crossings to deal with asylum seekers in case a federal appeals court strikes down one of the Trump administration's key policies...
Court halts Trump asylum policy, then suspends its own order
February 29, 2020 GMTSAN DIEGO (AP) — A Trump administration immigration policy that requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases wind through U...
AP Exclusive: Border apprehensions drop 8 straight months
February 4, 2020 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The number of border apprehensions has dropped for the eighth straight month, following crackdowns by the Trump administration that include forcing asylum seekers back over the U...
Asylum agreements with Central American nations challenged
January 16, 2020 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras that allow U...
AP Explains: US sending asylum seekers to Central America
January 15, 2020 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — The United States began sending Honduran and Salvadoran asylum seekers to Guatemala in November and last week said it would expand the practice to Mexicans...
Guatemala president says no deal to send Mexicans there
January 8, 2020 GMTGUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Outgoing Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales said Wednesday his government has not agreed to receive Mexicans who had sought asylum in the United States...
Mexico upset by US plan to send Mexicans to Guatemala
January 7, 2020 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — As the United States moved aggressively over the past year to sharply reduce the number of asylum seekers arriving at its southwest border, Mexicans were spared...
Guatemalan seeking asylum sues US to reunite with family
January 6, 2020 GMTBOSTON (AP) — A Guatemalan woman seeking asylum in Massachusetts is suing the federal government to reunite with her partner and son, who have been ordered to remain in Mexico under the Trump administration's asylum process...
Letter: Officers felt unsafe enacting Trump asylum crackdown
December 20, 2019 GMTHOUSTON (AP) — U.S. border officers charged with turning away asylum seekers under Trump administration policy accused their leadership of misleading the public and disregarding concerns for their own safety, according to documents released to The Associated Press...
Asylum seekers jam US border crossings to evade Trump policy
December 4, 2019 GMTPHOENIX (AP) — For months, asylum seekers have been prohibited from filing their claims at U.S. border crossings under a much-criticized Trump administration policy...
1st Honduran returned to Guatemala under US asylum accord
November 21, 2019 GMTGUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The United States has begun carrying out a landmark policy shift on asylum that’s a top priority of President Donald Trump, returning a Honduran immigrant to Guatemala to pursue his asylum case...
Immigration official says US-Mexico border crisis not over
October 29, 2019 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — A top U.S. Border Patrol official has a warning: The crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border is not over...
Asylum-seeking Mexicans are more prominent at US border
October 19, 2019 GMTCIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — Lizbeth Garcia tended to her 3-year-old son outside a tent pitched on a sidewalk, their temporary home while they wait for their number to be called to claim asylum in the United States...
Louisiana becomes new hub in immigrant detention under Trump
October 9, 2019 GMTWINNFIELD, La. (AP) — Tucked away in the dense forest of rural Louisiana is a barbed wire-ringed prison that has quickly grown into a major detention center for immigrants detained at the border...
Indian asylum seeker released by US after hunger strike
September 27, 2019 GMTEL PASO, Texas (AP) — An Indian immigrant who lost a third of his weight during a 70-day hunger strike over the rejection of his asylum claim won temporary release Thursday after a year in U...
Groups: Migrants told to wait in Mexico faced ‘bait, switch’
September 26, 2019 GMTTIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Julio Lopez and his family faced a decision when they reached the U.S. border to seek asylum: cross illegally or follow government instructions to stay in Mexico, even if it meant waiting for months...
Supreme Court allows broad enforcement of Trump asylum rule
September 12, 2019 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing nationwide enforcement of Full Coverage: Immigration
Appeals court puts on hold ruling blocking asylum change
September 11, 2019 GMTSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court has put on hold a ruling that blocked a Trump administration policy that would prevent migrants from seeking asylum along the entire southwest border...
Tent courts set to open on border for US asylum seekers
September 11, 2019 GMTEL PASO, Texas (AP) — The Trump administration is ready to open a tent court on the border to help handle tens of thousands of cases of asylum seekers forced to wait in Mexico, with hearings held entirely by videoconference...
Judge reinstates nationwide halt on Trump asylum policy plan
September 10, 2019 GMTOAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A U.S. judge in California on Monday reinstated a nationwide halt on the Trump administration's plan to prevent most migrants from seeking asylum at the U...
US, Mexico widen asylum crackdown to push back all migrants
August 29, 2019 GMTNUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (AP) — A Trump administration program forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico has evolved into a sweeping rejection of all forms of migrants, with both countries quietly working to keep people out of the U...
Court: US can reject asylum along parts of Mexico border
August 17, 2019 GMTHOUSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Friday cleared the way for the U.S. government to forbid Central American immigrants from seeking asylum at the two busiest stretches of the southern border in a partial legal victory for the Trump administration...
Attorney: Officials force-feeding immigrant on hunger strike
August 15, 2019 GMTEL PASO, Texas (AP) — The text was alarming: "today medical start force feeding only with me. They put the pipe in my nose 3 time...
In Mexico, thousands more names added to border wait lists
August 9, 2019 GMTTIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — The Cameroonian men who share 10 mattresses on the floor of a third-floor apartment above a barber shop walk every morning to the busiest U...
Trump administration pushes to speed up migrant family cases
August 4, 2019 GMTLOS ANGELES (AP) — Rosita Lopez said armed gang members demanded money from her and her partner at their small grocery store on the Guatemalan coast and threatened to kill them when they couldn't pay...
Mexico opens first government shelter for asylum seekers
August 2, 2019 GMTCIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — The Mexican government opened its first shelter Thursday in the border city of Juarez to house Central Americans and other migrants seeking asylum in the United States who have been sent back to Mexico to await the process...
US DHS chief, Guatemala president meet on asylum agreement
August 1, 2019 GMTGUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Acting U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan met Thursday with Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales to discuss an agreement under which many asylum seekers would have to file claims in this Central American nation rather than in the United States...
US Homeland Security discusses asylum agreement in Guatemala
August 1, 2019 GMTGUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The acting head of U.S. Homeland Security held private discussions Wednesday on an agreement with Guatemala that would force many asylum seekers to file claims in the Central American country instead of the United States...