Many people hurt after the US Supreme Court's ruling

Migrant children on their journey to the US with their parents at a makeshift tent in Mexico City, Mexico. Photo: AFP/TTXVN

On September 13, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Andrej Mahecic said the agency regretted the US Supreme Court's ruling on limiting asylum applications.

“We regret the impact that the implementation of the judgment will have on asylum seekers,” a UNHCR spokesperson stressed. “We note that anyone fleeing violence or persecution should have access to full, effective asylum procedures and international protection.”

The US Supreme Court's decision to limit asylum applications at the Mexican border could hurt people forced to flee violence and persecution who have a right to protection, the spokesman said.

Mr. Andrej Mahecic said it would be too early to speculate whether the US court's ruling and the Donald Trump administration's policies violated the 1951 Refugee Convention that the US has ratified.

The Mexican government protested on September 12, while Central American migrants feared they would be deported back to their violent homelands after the US Supreme Court allowed President Donald Trump to tighten the door on asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border.

According to Joel Millman, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), there are currently more than 36,500 migrants and asylum seekers gathered at the US-Mexico border. However, it is unclear how many of them have formally applied for asylum in the US.

On September 11, the US Supreme Court ruled to allow the implementation of the Donald Trump administration's asylum restrictions, thereby preventing most migrants from Central American countries from having the opportunity to apply for this status at the US-Mexico border.

According to the US Supreme Court, the US government's tightening measures can take effect because the litigation process to prove the legality of this regulation is still ongoing.