Trump administration issues rule to further restrict asylum eligibility
SAN DIEGO _ Asylum-seekers may face additional hurdles to winning protection in the United States after the Trump administration unveiled a proposed rule that would place new restrictions on the system.
The rule would expand the kinds of criminal convictions, or charges in certain domestic violence cases, that bar someone from winning asylum. People who are convicted of "aggravated felonies" _ a legal term created by Congress to refer to certain crimes that should be taken into account in immigration proceedings _ were already blocked from asylum in the United States, and the new rule aims to add to the list of convictions that make asylum seekers ineligible.
The Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security announced the rule together last week.
In the proposed rule, the departments note that the expansion of bars on asylum will likely result in fewer asylum grants, but they said they were not able to estimate how many cases would be affected.
_The San Diego Union-Tribune
