Migrants wait to be processed and loaded into a van by U.S. Border Patrol agents after being detained when they crossed illegally into the U.S. from Mexico in El Paso, Texas, U.S., June 5, 2019. /VCG Photo
The Mexican government protested and Central American migrants feared to be deported back to their violent homelands on Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed President Donald Trump to slam the door on asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexican border.
On Wednesday, the court found that Trump's restrictive asylum rule could go into effect nationwide while a litigation challenging its underlying legality proceeds, handing the President a victory as he brandishes his anti-immigration credentials for the 2020 presidential election.
The rule requires immigrants who want asylum to first seek safe haven in a third country through which they travel on the way to the U.S., enabling the north American country to combat a record surge in Central American asylum-seekers.
Trump's immigration crackdown has cheered his supporters while immigrant advocates in the U.S. fear the court decision will endanger the lives of migrants, many of them fleeing poverty, street gangs and domestic violence in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
A U.S. Border Patrol agent assists a migrant woman and her child in getting out of a transport van as they're released from federal detention with fellow asylum seekers at a bus depot in McAllen, Texas, U.S., July 31, 2019. /VCG Photo
With the threat of automatic rejection hanging over the most recent arrivals, thousands of migrants are cramped into shelters or sleeping in the streets of Mexican border cities in places such as the state of Tamaulipas, where the U.S. State Department has placed a "do not travel" advisory due to violent crime.
One asylum-seeker from El Salvador who staying in a Tijuana shelter while awaiting her immigration hearing in San Diego said she could only hope to God she would not be sent back.
"I'm very scared, I hope this won'’t affect me. I cannot return to my country, they tried to rape me there twice because I am a lesbian and the last time I ended up in a hospital in intensive care," said Veronica Martinez, 23. "I trust in God that the court's decision does not affect me."
The Mexican government also pushed back against the U.S. top court's action, one that could create a new headache for Mexico.
"This is the ruling by the court, it's a U.S. issue, and obviously we don't agree with it, we have a different policy," said Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.
Minor migrants draw at Juventud 2000 migrant shelter in Tijuana, Mexico, July 13, 2019. /VCG Photo
The court's decision comes at a delicate time for Mexican-U.S. relations. Under Trump's threat of imposing tariffs, Mexico has agreed to house many of the surging number of Central American asylum-seekers south of the border pending their U.S. hearings.
That gesture has led to a sharp decline in U.S. apprehensions and rejections of migrants at the border, winning Mexico praise from Trump.
But Mexico has resisted U.S. pressure to sign a formal "safe third country" agreement that would commit it to hearing the asylum cases of migrants from Central American and elsewhere.
The downside for Mexico is that the buildup of migrants at the northern border is putting stress on schools, health clinics and housing.
"We have seen outbreaks of acts of xenophobia in Mexico that did not exist before, mainly in the north of the country,” said Israel Ibarra, an immigration expert with the Continente Movil consultancy in Tijuana.