The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, criticized the US steps to combat illegal immigration, including measures taken by Washington to manage border areas with Latin American countries.
“While I welcome the measures to establish and expand safe and regular routes, I believe that other measures should not be applied if they would affect basic human rights, which include the right to seek asylum,” Turk said.
He added, “Asylum Is considered a human right, regardless of its origin and immigration status.” On January 5, the US federal government announced its intention to implement a set of new measures aimed at combating illegal immigration “in order to reduce waves of unregulated and unsafe immigration” coming to the United States from Latin America, as well as “in order to strengthen border security” with Mexico.
The White House announced plans to expand the deportation of illegal immigrants under accelerated procedures, with a five-year ban on entry to the United States.
