Border Agencies Return Pregnant Migrants to Mexico

Border officers are returning pregnant migrants to Mexico, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Under the headline, “Pregnant women, other vulnerable asylum seekers are returned to Mexico to await hearings,” the Los Angeles Times described how President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy is reducing the ability of adventurous migrants to give birth in the United States:

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Four other pregnant migrants crossed the bridge on Thursday with her, along with a new mother carrying her 6-day-old daughter. All were in the Remain in Mexico program.

Under President Barack Obama, nearly all pregnant migrants were invited to remain in the United States pending a courtroom hearing for their asylum claims. Moreover, when the migrants lost their claims for asylum, Obama’s deputies barred enforcement officials from deporting the migrants because of their U.S.-born children, dubbed “anchor babies.”

Many migrants recognized this opportunity and rationally grabbed American citizenship for their children. However, the new policy may reduce the number of visibly pregnant migrants who try to claim asylum.

An October 2918 study by the Center for Immigration Studies shows that almost 300,000 children are born to illegal immigrants each year. That number is equivalent to one of every thirteen children born each year.

By May 17, the Department of Homeland Security had sent 6,004 migrants back to Mexico, including several pregnant migrants.

The returned migrants, however, are far slower than the flood across the border. During April and May, roughly 200,000 migrants rushed through the catch and release loopholes to cross the border.

The Remain in Mexico program — which is now called the “Migrant Protection Protocols ” — is growing because it has survived the first round of legal fights.

The policy is also nudging some migrants to return to their homes in Central America, the LAT said:

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