This week in immigration news – September 12, 2019

The Trump administration has directed the Department of Homeland Security to secure ‘third-country’ agreements with El Salvador and Honduras.

If agreed to by their governments, Salvadorans and Hondurans would have to apply for asylum in the first country where they arrived. A report from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection showed that Hondurans have chosen to settle in Guatemala rather than attempt to travel to the United States.

This week a federal judge in California restored an injunction against the Trump administration’s third-country proposal with Guatemala, which would have forced people fleeing the country to file an asylum claim in the first country they set foot in.

Critics of the policy charged that it would have the effect of cutting off the ability of Central Americans to claim asylum in the United States.

The California Community College system is working hard to try and reassure immigrant students that they can still apply for financial aid in the wake of President Trump’s public charge rule.

Even so, administrators worry that misinformation, in addition to mixed messaging by the Department of Homeland Security will scare students away from applying for the aid they need and for which they qualify.