New Trump Rule, “could not be more inconsistent with our domestic laws or international laws”

…on Monday, the administration announced one of its most restrictive rules yet for a system, enshrined in international law, that Mr. Trump has called “ridiculous” and “insane.”

In a move that would stop virtually all Central American families who are fleeing persecution and poverty from entering the United States, Trump administration officials said they would deny asylum to migrants who failed to apply for protections in the first country they passed through on their way north.

Under the new rule, Hondurans and Salvadorans would have to apply for — and be denied — asylum in Guatemala or Mexico before they were eligible to apply for asylum in the United States. Guatemalans would have to apply for and be denied asylum in Mexico.

The new rule is expected to be immediately challenged. Lee Gelernt, the deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said in a statement that it “could not be more inconsistent with our domestic laws or international laws” and that his organization would sue swiftly.

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