[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 132, 115th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
Proclamation 9822 of November 9, 2018

Addressing Mass Migration Through the Southern Border of the United
States

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

The United States expects the arrival at the border between the United
States and Mexico (southern border) of a substantial number of aliens
primarily from Central America who appear to have no lawful basis for
admission into our country. They are traveling in large, organized
groups through Mexico and reportedly intend to enter the United States
unlawfully or without proper documentation and to seek asylum, despite
the fact that, based on past experience, a significant majority will not
be eligible for or be granted that benefit. Many entered Mexico
unlawfully--some with violence--and have rejected opportunities to apply
for asylum and benefits in Mexico. The arrival of large numbers of
aliens will contribute to the overloading of our immigration and asylum
system and to the release of thousands of aliens into the interior of
the United States. The continuing and threatened mass migration of
aliens with no basis for admission into the United States through our
southern border has precipitated a crisis and undermines the integrity
of our borders. I therefore must take immediate action to protect the
national interest, and to maintain the effectiveness of the asylum
system for legitimate asylum seekers who demonstrate that they have fled
persecution and warrant the many special benefits associated with
asylum.
In recent weeks, an average of approximately 2,000 inadmissible aliens
have entered each day at our southern border. In Fiscal Year 2018
overall, 124,511 aliens were found inadmissible at ports of entry on the
southern border, while 396,579 aliens were apprehended entering the
United States unlawfully between such ports of entry. The great number
of aliens who cross unlawfully into the United States through the
southern border consumes tremendous resources as the Government seeks to
surveil, apprehend, screen, process, and detain them.
Aliens who enter the United States unlawfully or without proper
documentation and are subject to expedited removal may avoid being
promptly removed by demonstrating, during an initial screening process,
a credible fear of persecution or torture. Approximately 2 decades ago,
most aliens deemed inadmissible at a port of entry or apprehended after
unlawfully entering the United States through the southern border were
single adults who were promptly returned to Mexico, and very few
asserted a fear of return. Since then, however, there has been a massive
increase in fear-of-persecution or torture claims by aliens who enter
the United States through the southern border. The vast majority of such
aliens are found to satisfy the credible-fear threshold, although only a
fraction of the claimants whose claims are

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adjudicated ultimately qualify for asylum or other protection. Aliens
found to have a credible fear are often released into the interior of
the United States, as a result of a lack of detention space and a
variety of other legal and practical difficulties, pending adjudication
of their claims in a full removal proceeding in immigration court. The
immigration adjudication process often takes years to complete because
of the growing volume of claims and because of the need to expedite
proceedings for detained aliens. During that time, many released aliens
fail to appear for hearings, do not comply with subsequent orders of
removal, or are difficult to locate and remove.
Members of family units pose particular challenges. The Federal
Government lacks sufficient facilities to house families together.
Virtually all members of family units who enter the United States
through the southern border, unlawfully or without proper documentation,
and that are found to have a credible fear of persecution, are thus
released into the United States. Against this backdrop of near-assurance
of release, the number of such aliens traveling as family units who
enter through the southern border and claim a credible fear of
persecution has greatly increased. And large numbers of family units
decide to make the dangerous and unlawful border crossing with their
children.
The United States has a long and proud history of offering protection to
aliens who are fleeing persecution and torture and who qualify under the
standards articulated in our immigration laws, including through our
asylum system and the Refugee Admissions Program. But our system is
being overwhelmed by migration through our southern border. Crossing the
border to avoid detection and then, if apprehended, claiming a fear of
persecution is in too many instances an avenue to near-automatic release
into the interior of the United States. Once released, such aliens are
very difficult to remove. An additional influx of large groups of aliens
arriving at once through the southern border would add tremendous strain
to an already taxed system, especially if they avoid orderly processing
by unlawfully crossing the southern border.
The entry of large numbers of aliens into the United States unlawfully
between ports of entry on the southern border is contrary to the
national interest, and our law has long recognized that aliens who seek
to lawfully enter the United States must do so at ports of entry.
Unlawful entry puts lives of both law enforcement and aliens at risk. By
contrast, entry at ports of entry at the southern border allows for
orderly processing, which enables the efficient deployment of law
enforcement resources across our vast southern border.
Failing to take immediate action to stem the mass migration the United
States is currently experiencing and anticipating would only encourage
additional mass unlawful migration and further overwhelming of the
system.
Other presidents have taken strong action to prevent mass migration. In
Proclamation 4865 of September 29, 1981 (High Seas Interdiction of
Illegal Aliens), in response to an influx of Haitian nationals traveling
to the United States by sea, President Reagan suspended the entry of
undocumented aliens from the high seas and ordered the Coast Guard to
intercept such aliens before they reached United States shores and to
return them to their point of origin. In Executive Order 12807 of May
24, 1992 (Interdiction of Illegal Aliens), in response to a dramatic

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increase in the unlawful mass migration of Haitian nationals to the
United States, President Bush ordered additional measures to interdict
such Haitian nationals and return them to their home country. The
Supreme Court upheld the legality of those measures in Sale v. Haitian
Centers Council, Inc., 509 U.S. 155 (1993).
I am similarly acting to suspend, for a limited period, the entry of
certain aliens in order to address the problem of large numbers of
aliens traveling through Mexico to enter our country unlawfully or
without proper documentation. I am tailoring the suspension to channel
these aliens to ports of entry, so that, if they enter the United
States, they do so in an orderly and controlled manner instead of
unlawfully. Under this suspension, aliens entering through the southern
border, even those without proper documentation, may, consistent with
this proclamation, avail themselves of our asylum system, provided that
they properly present themselves for inspection at a port of entry. In
anticipation of a large group of aliens arriving in the coming weeks, I
am directing the Secretary of Homeland Security to commit additional
resources to support our ports of entry at the southern border to assist
in processing those aliens--and all others arriving at our ports of
entry--as efficiently as possible.
But aliens who enter the United States unlawfully through the southern
border in contravention of this proclamation will be ineligible to be
granted asylum under the regulation promulgated by the Attorney General
and the Secretary of Homeland Security that became effective earlier
today. Those aliens may, however, still seek other forms of protection
from persecution or torture. In addition, this limited suspension will
facilitate ongoing negotiations with Mexico and other countries
regarding appropriate cooperative arrangements to prevent unlawful mass
migration to the United States through the southern border. Thus, this
proclamation is also necessary to manage and conduct the foreign affairs
of the United States effectively.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, by the authority vested in me by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including
sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)
(8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a), respectively) hereby find that, absent
the measures set forth in this proclamation, the entry into the United
States of persons described in section 1 of this proclamation would be
detrimental to the interests of the United States, and that their entry
should be subject to certain restrictions, limitations, and exceptions.
I therefore hereby proclaim the following:
Section 1. Suspension and Limitation on Entry. The entry of any alien
into the United States across the international boundary between the
United States and Mexico is hereby suspended and limited, subject to
section 2 of this proclamation. That suspension and limitation shall
expire 90 days after the date of this proclamation or the date on which
an agreement permits the United States to remove aliens to Mexico in
compliance with the terms of section 208(a)(2)(A) of the INA (8 U.S.C.
1158(a)(2)(A)), whichever is earlier.
Sec. 2. Scope and Implementation of Suspension and Limitation on Entry.
(a) The suspension and limitation on entry pursuant to section 1 of this
proclamation shall apply only to aliens who enter the United States
after the date of this proclamation.

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(b) The suspension and limitation on entry pursuant to section 1 of
this proclamation shall not apply to any alien who enters the United
States at a port of entry and properly presents for inspection, or to
any lawful permanent resident of the United States.
(c) Nothing in this proclamation shall limit an alien entering the
United States from being considered for withholding of removal under
section 241(b)(3) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1231(b)(3)) or protection
pursuant to the regulations promulgated under the authority of the
implementing legislation regarding the Convention Against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, or limit the
statutory processes afforded to unaccompanied alien children upon
entering the United States under section 279 of title 6, United States
Code, and section 1232 of title 8, United States Code.
(d) No later than 90 days after the date of this proclamation, the
Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland
Security shall jointly submit to the President, through the Assistant to
the President for National Security Affairs, a recommendation on whether
an extension or renewal of the suspension or limitation on entry in
section 1 of this proclamation is in the interests of the United States.
Sec. 3. Interdiction. The Secretary of State and the Secretary of
Homeland Security shall consult with the Government of Mexico regarding
appropriate steps--consistent with applicable law and the foreign
policy, national security, and public-safety interests of the United
States--to address the approach of large groups of aliens traveling
through Mexico with the intent of entering the United States unlawfully,
including efforts to deter, dissuade, and return such aliens before they
physically enter United States territory through the southern border.
Sec. 4. Severability. It is the policy of the United States to enforce
this proclamation to the maximum extent possible to advance the
interests of the United States. Accordingly:
(a) if any provision of this proclamation, or the application of any
provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the
remainder of this proclamation and the application of its other
provisions to any other persons or circumstances shall not be affected
thereby; and
(b) if any provision of this proclamation, or the application of any
provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid because
of the failure to follow certain procedures, the relevant executive
branch officials shall implement those procedural requirements to
conform with existing law and with any applicable court orders.
Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this proclamation shall be
construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or
agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This proclamation shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This proclamation is not intended to, and does not, create any
right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in eq

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uity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies,
or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of
November, in the year of our Lord two thousand eighteen, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-
third.
DONALD J. TRUMP