Trump signs immigration order on asylum

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday he has signed an immigration proclamation, an order that would help effectively ban migrants who cross the US border with Mexico illegally from qualifying for asylum.

The Trump administration unveiled new rules on Thursday to sharply limit migrant asylum claims by barring individuals who cross the US southern border illegally from seeking asylum.

People have to come into the United States at points of entry, Trump said before leaving for Paris.

The plan, which invokes the same authority Trump used to justify his travel ban on citizens of several Muslim-majority nations, is likely to be quickly challenged in court.

The Trump administration lost a court bid on Thursday, when a federal appeals court in California ruled that it must continue a program begun under former President Barack Obama that protects hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants who were brought into the country as children, known as Dreamers.

Trump said the ruling on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was good news because now the administration can appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.