Honduran migrants taking part in the caravan toward the U.S. wait to get information about their families in Mexico City. President Donald Trump has said that the caravan amounted to an “invasion” on the southwest border. | Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images Employment & Immigration Trump to make asylum changes as soon as Friday

President Donald Trump plans to take executive action, possibly as early as Friday, to limit the ability of migrants to seek asylum at the southwest border, an administration official confirmed Wednesday.

Trump signaled last week that he would issue a “comprehensive” directive in the coming days that deals with immigration.


The president fumed in the run-up to the midterm elections over a group of Central American migrants traveling through Mexico en route to the United States. Republican voters considered immigration a major issue in the elections — and Trump hammered home the message that the caravan amounted to an “invasion” on the southwest border.

The administration has considered a fast-track regulation paired with a presidential proclamation to block asylum seekers, POLITICO reported last month.

A working group of administration officials met Wednesday to discuss possible moves, according to a Homeland Security Department official with knowledge of the gathering.

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The group weighed restricting the ability of people caught between ports of entry to make a “credible fear” claim, the first step in an asylum application, the official said. Another option would be to apply a different credible fear standard to those migrants.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that the move could come before Trump departs for a trip to Paris on Friday.