SAN DIEGO – A U.S. Border Patrol agent wouldn't let Jackeline Reyes explain why she and her 15-year-old daughter fled Honduras and needed asylum, pointing to the coronavirus.
It was just days after the Trump administration essentially shut down the nation's asylum system. “The agent told us about the virus and that we couldn't go further, but she didn't let us speak or anything,” said Reyes, 35, who was shuttled on March 24 to Reynosa, Mexico, a violent border city.
The Trump administration is relying on a seldom-used public health law to set aside decades-old national and international immigration laws.
People seeking refuge in the U.S. are whisked to the nearest border crossing and returned to Mexico without a chance to apply for asylum.