Trump should look closely at how Clinton dealt with asylum seekers

Clinton faced a number of challenges related to asylum during his presidency. A steady stream of Haitians — which began under President George H.W. Bush — continued after Clinton took office. As a candidate, Clinton had criticized Bush’s handling of the humanitarian crisis, sparked by a military coup that overthrew the nation’s democratically elected president in 1991.

But Clinton continued Bush’s policy, forcibly interdicting Haitians as they tried to cross the Caribbean Sea to America.

Later foreigners began arriving on airplanes with fraudulent travel documents or no papers at all. Martin said the sheer number overwhelmed customs officials.

Martin said the administration made a number of changes. For instance, he said, the government adopted a “last in, first out” policy that prioritized new asylum cases over ones that has been pending for a long time. That was meant to deter fraudulent claims by convincing foreigners that they quickly would be returned to their home countries.