© KVIA/ABCActing Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, during a White House press briefing Friday said:
"The CDC order directs the department to suspend the introduction of all individuals seeking to enter the U.S. without proper travel documentation. That's for both the northern and southern border. The CDC director has determined that the introduction and spread of the coronavirus in the department's Border Patrol stations and detention facilities presents a serious danger to migrants, our front-line agents, our officers, and the American people."Wolf said citizens of more than 120 countries were arrested illegally entering the United States.
"Many of these individuals arrive with little or no identity travel or medical documentation, making public health risk determinations all but impossible. It's also important to note the outbreak on our southern border would likely increase the strain on our border communities, taking away important and life-saving resources from American citizens."The Trump administration will ban all nonessential travel between the U.S. and Mexico and between the U.S. and Canada at midnight.
The Washington Examiner first reported that Border Patrol had already begun quickly sending back all Mexicans apprehended at the southern border instead of taking people to immigration detention facilities for normal processing. All immigrants from countries other than Mexico will be transported back to their countries of origin. Wolf explained:
"We're going to be sending, again, individuals back to Mexico, individuals back to Northern Triangle countries, Cuba, Haiti. We'll be sending them back individually to their countries, but also working with Mexico to send additional populations back there as well."Trump immediately jumped in and said the U.S. was not sending non-Mexicans to Mexico, contradicting Wolf. Trump asked:
"Why would Mexico take people that are not from Mexico? In the case of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, a lot of other countries, they go back to the country from where they came."Asylum seekers from all countries who show up at land ports of entry are already returned to Mexico while they await the adjudication of their cases as part of the administration's Migrant Protection Protocols, which were rolled out in late 2018. The protocols, known as the Remain in Mexico policy, are being challenged in court but were allowed by the Supreme Court earlier this month to continue during the suit.
The Trump administration announced on Friday a ban on recreational and tourist travel at the U.S.-Mexico border as a precaution to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The U.S. agreement mirrors one announced earlier this week with Canada. Both plans will take effect at midnight.
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