The new standards for applying for asylum announced this week by the United States Government arouse desolation among activists and migrants who wait in shelters or next to the Rio Bravo, on the northern border of Mexico.

Pastor Gigio Heredia, representative of the Humanitarian Hub Center in Ciudad Juárez, bordering El Paso, warned EFE that this measure will cause more and more migrants to cross irregularly through the Rio Bravo with the risks that this entails.

“We have seen it again and again, every time migrants arrive here with us we see that, encountering so many restrictions, seeing all the refusals to be able to get to the place where they thought since they left their places, it is a strong blow to the mood and especially to the dreams they had,” he said.

The activist referred to the rule promulgated by the Joe Biden Government to instruct migrant agents to prohibit people considered a “risk to public or national security” from applying for asylum and being, therefore, admitted within the United States, although the rule is still under review.

These filters are already applied when studying asylum cases, but this new measure allows them to be used during the “credible fear” interview phase, where it is decided if a person meets the requirements to request protection after crossing the border with Mexico.

The rule has consequences for border cities in Mexico, such as Ciudad Juárez, since “every decision made by the United States Government on the migration issue in one way or another has repercussions on the border, since this would close the door to many families who would have to stay,” according to Heredia.

The religious pointed out that, when faced with so many laws and restrictions, migrants go into despair. For this reason, they take riskier routes and expose themselves to organized crime.

“They are a prisoner for organized crime since they are vulnerable, we have had many cases where we have seen that their belongings have been stolen, where they have been outraged they have been threatened and that is a risk for them,” he said.

Likewise, he considered that “they would be forced to spend some time here and that would cause contingencies, a greater number of migrants stranded here at the border.”

The rules occur in the midst of growing operations to stop migrants in the United States and Mexico. In the first quarter of 2024, irregular migration intercepted by the Mexican Government grew by about 200% per year to almost 360,000.

Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador agreed at the end of April to “work together to immediately implement concrete measures in order to significantly reduce irregular border crossings and at the same time protect human rights.”

This already has effects on migrants such as Denis Ramos. A Guatemalan who has been waiting for four months in a hostel in Juárez for his appointment to enter the United States.

For him, the news of the tightening of the rules for applying for asylum is “very hard”.

“It is quite complicated for those of us who are already here, as well as for those who are on their way, because there are some who are not aware of the news and every day it gets a little more complicated,” the migrant told EFE.

He added that many travel companions are already desperate in the face of the difficulty of the journey, so they prefer to risk an irregular crossing.

“We who come from Guatemala, which is a neighboring country, feel that it is ‘very distant’ (too far away), let’s not say they come from Colombia, Venezuela, from different countries of the world. The course of the trip already brings them desperate and that leads them to surrender once and for all,” he said.

The European Union gave the definitive green light on Monday to extend for one more year, from next June 6 to June 5, 2025, the suspension of tariffs and quotas on imports of Ukrainian products as a measure to support Kiev in the face of Russian aggression.

This measure, approved by the Council of the EU (the countries), is a “vital” support of the Union for the Ukrainian economy in the face of the “devastation caused by Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression,” said the executive vice president of the European Commission and head of Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, in a statement.

The suspension of tariffs for one more year, to which the plenary of the European Parliament had given its approval on April 23, will guarantee “that we keep Ukrainian products in circulation, taking into account at the same time the concerns of the EU agri-food sector,” Dombrovskis said.

The new extension includes safeguard measures to protect certain European products, essentially agricultural, in the event that Ukrainian imports not subject to tariffs generate problems in their local markets, something that some States had complained about in recent months.

“Thanks to the income generated by Ukrainian exports to and through the EU, Ukraine will have more financial means to win this war and will be in a stronger position to recover from it,” said the Community executive vice president.

The suspension of tariffs and exports of Ukrainian cereals by the so-called European solidarity lines have made it possible that, despite the war, trade in Ukrainian products has remained relatively stable, the European Commission stressed in a statement.

EU imports from Ukraine amounted to 22.8 billion euros in 2023, compared to 24 billion euros in 2021, just before the war that broke out in 2022.

According to what was approved in the EU, the Commission can act quickly and impose any measure it deems necessary if there is a significant disturbance in the Union market as a whole or in the markets of one or more Member States of the Community club as a result of Ukrainian imports.

As part of the reinforced safeguard measures to protect the farmers of the Twenty-seven, the Commission can activate “an emergency brake” for particularly sensitive agricultural products such as poultry, eggs, sugar, oats, grains, corn and honey.

If imports of these products exceed the average volume of imports recorded in the second half of 2021 and all of 2022 and 2023, tariffs may be reimposed.

At least 4 people have died, another 64 were injured and it is feared that dozens have been trapped when a billboard collapsed on a gas pump in the city of Mumbai, in western India, on Monday.

The sign, about 30 meters high located in the suburb of Ghatkopar, was torn off by a wind storm and fell on a gasoline pump.

As a result, 64 people have been admitted to a hospital, one of them in critical condition, “and a total of four people have died in this incident,” the commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Bhushan Gagrani, told the press.

In addition, it is believed that there are between 20 and 30 more people trapped, he added.

The emergency teams are in the area carrying out the rescue operations and an investigation has been ordered to know the nature of the event, the deputy head of government of the state of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, told the press.

“It was an unprecedented windstorm. Our priority is to rescue those trapped and the operation has to be extremely careful,” Fadnavis added.

Images shared on social networks show the moment when the irons that hold the billboard give way to the pressures of the winds and fall on several rows of vehicles behind.

A dust storm shook the city of Bombay, paralyzing public transport and causing power outages in several districts of the financial capital.

Bombay airport canceled several flights due to inclement weather and dust storms that occurred in the early afternoon.