The Trump administration is planning to publish a rule that would allow the government to send illegal immigrants who did not apply for asylum back to Central America.
The rule, which will be published on the federal registry on Tuesday, stems from Asylum Cooperative Agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras that were made this summer. Former acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan helped broker the deals.
Under the agreements, these countries are required to stop any illegal immigrants attempting to come to the U.S. If one of the countries fails to stop an illegal immigrant coming through, the U.S. is allowed to send immigrants to the country through which they immigrated.
The countries will receive increased law enforcement and assistance from the U.S. in exchange for illegal immigrants being returned to their home countries. This includes hundreds of millions of dollars the Trump administration had previously withheld.
The rule comes as the illegal immigration population in the U.S. has surged by over half a million people in 2019, according to a recent report.
