Trump Slams "Catch and Release" Policy; Afghan Drought Forces Families to Sell Children
ALLEN: It is a momentous day for Brexit unfolding right now. We're following fast-moving developments in Brussels this hour.</s>HOWELL: The images we're seeing now, these images of the British prime minister, Theresa May, at the roundtable with other European Union leaders. The E.U. 27 having now officially endorsed the Brexit withdrawal agreement and political declaration on the future E.U.-U.K. relations. That coming from European Council president Donald Tusk in a tweet just a short time ago, barely an hour into the day's summit. E.U. leaders are also committed to taking the necessary steps to ensure an orderly withdrawal. They urge the British Parliament to sign off on the deal as well. Mexico's incoming government denies it reached a deal with the Trump administration regarding migrants seeking asylum in the United States. "The Washington Post" reports that the purported deal would require asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their cases are processed. It would effectively end what Donald Trump disparagingly calls the U.S. catch and release policy.</s>ALLEN: Right now, thousands of migrants are in the Mexican city of Tijuana, waiting to file claims. The city's mayor has requested humanitarian aid to deal with the influx of people. On the other side of the border, U.S. law enforcement officers are currently patrolling the area and conducting security exercises.</s>HOWELL: In the meantime, the U.S. president has repeated his threat to close the country's southern border. Our Sarah Westwood has more now on his reaction.</s>SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: After weeks of ratcheting up the pressure on Mexican leaders to do more to help the U.S. with --</s>WESTWOOD: -- its illegal immigration problem at the southern border, the president is hinting that he may have struck a deal with Mexico that could force asylum seekers to wait on the Mexico side of the U.S.-Mexico border until their claims are processed by U.S. courts. The president tweeting on Saturday, "Migrants at the southern border will not be allowed into the United States until their claims are individually approved in court. We will only allow those who come into our country legally. Other than that, our very strong policy is catch and detain. No releasing into the U.S." Then he goes on to say, "All will stay in Mexico. If for any reason it becomes necessary, we will close our southern border. There is no way that the United States will, after decades of abuse, put up with this costly and dangerous situation." The president has threatened to close the southern border before, although it's unclear how exactly he would do that. And the president has already attempted to make changes to asylum policy through executive action. Just a few weeks ago the president attempted a proposed rule change that would have required migrants to present themselves at legal points of entry in order to request asylum. They would no longer be allowed to request asylum if they were caught trying to cross the border illegally. But, of course, a court blocked that executive action from moving forward. That's something that the president has fixated on as he's spent the week here in Florida for the holiday. This deal would represent a major overhaul to the asylum system as currently, anytime a migrant sets foot on U.S. soil, they are eligible to request asylum. And often they are released from detention while awaiting a court decision on their case. That can take months. The president has referred to that practice as catch and release. It's what he's described as a loophole that he wants to change and he wants to pursue a policy that either forces those asylum seekers to cross into Mexico or continue to be held by immigration authorities until their cases are processed -- Sarah Westwood, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.</s>HOWELL: Let's talk more about this now with former U.S. deputy Homeland Security adviser, Amy Pope. Amy served in the National Security Council during the Obama administration and she's a senior fellow at The Atlantic Council. Good to have you live in our London bureau. Let's start with the last point raised in that report we just heard. The U.S. president wanting migrants to either seek asylum at official ports of entry or to prepare to be detained if they try to enter the country by any other means. How does this square with a ruling by a federal judge recently, temporarily blocking the government from denying asylum to those crossing the border between points of entry?</s>AMY POPE, THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Look, there are real questions about whether this puts the United States in conflict with its obligations under existing treaties that it signed on to, as well as the real principles that stand behind the foundation of United States, that it is a place where people who are fleeing violence and persecution can find refuge. Let's put this into context. The people who are coning from Honduras are fleeing some of the most violent cities in the world. The murder rates are high. There are very few opportunities for the police to engage. They face real danger. We shouldn't assume that women and children are walking from their home countries to the United States because they have something better to do. This is real danger that they're fleeing. And the United States has an obligation to evaluate their claims.</s>HOWELL: Want to get to this other story, the incoming Mexican government denying this report by "The Washington Post" that it reached a deal with the Trump administration on asylum. Keeping in mind this new administration doesn't take control of Mexico until December 1st. So do you take this denial at face value or could this be a way of kicking of can until they officially take over government?</s>POPE: I think this reflects the fact that immigration in Mexico is also a political issue. We learned, when I was in the Obama administration, that working with Mexico, partnering with Mexico was the most effective solution to managing migration along the southern border. That means one needs to treat Mexico as a partner. It's not effective to put any sort of agreement or partially formed agreements out into the public eye. It needs to be coordinated and it needs to be done in recognition that Mexico is a player here. You can't denigrate Mexico or its government at the same time that you want them to work with you.</s>HOWELL: The incoming interior secretary spoke on this. She said that Mexico doesn't have plans to become a third safe country for migrants, essentially that Mexico won't be a waiting room. Clearly, this is a response to the pressure that government is under from both migrants and the U.S. government.</s>POPE: There is room for Mexico to play more of --</s>POPE: -- a role here. There's no question. One of the key issues that we faced when I was in the last administration was working with Mexico to increase its own capacity to evaluate people who were seeking asylum or refuge in Mexico. But the truth is, their capacity to do that is still fairly limited. So any solution needs to be done in conjunction with the United States. Putting increased political and actual pressure on Mexican resources will backfire on the president and is not a long-term or sustainable solution here. It will further politicize the issue and really exacerbate the problems that both countries are facing.</s>HOWELL: This goes back to what we talked about. Federal courts made a decision here. But the president did tweet recently that migrants would need to stay in Mexico until their asylum claims are processed and would need to close the border, he says, if necessary. All that though seems in line with this alleged deal reached between these two nations.</s>POPE: The question of closing the border is a very loaded one. When the United States relies heavily on the transportation that's going back and forth across that border, trade, people, business, the impact on the United States would be extremely detrimental. And taking any kind of action like that would be disproportionate to the effect anyone seeking asylum. And we're talking about a couple of thousand people who are desperate, poor and fleeing circumstances that one can't imagine sitting in the United States. So taking an action that would further harm the U.S. and Mexican interests doesn't make a lot of sense here and it is not the way I would advise a president to take the threat.</s>HOWELL: Amy Pope, we appreciate your time. Thank you.</s>POPE: Thank you.</s>ALLEN: The U.K. is now one step closer to leaving the European Union. The controversial Brexit deal was formally accepted in the past hour by the European Union. We'll take you live to Brussels for the latest.