US President Donald Trump ordered his administration to propose regulations that would impose fees on migrants applying for asylum and speed up the application process.

In a Presidential memorandum released on Monday night, Trump said that security and humanitarian crisis at the US-Mexico border undermines the nation’s security and sovereignty.

The memorandum was issued as Trump strongly indicated that he would make the issues of illegal immigration and border security a centerpiece of his 2020 election campaign. Apprehensions at the southern border have surged despite his administration’s stricter immigration policies, and earlier this month he removed Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and other top immigration officials.

“The purpose of this memorandum is to strengthen asylum procedures to safeguard our system against rampant abuse of our asylum process,” wrote Trump.

The order called for the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to impose a fee for an asylum application not to exceed the costs of adjudicating the application and set a fee for an initial application for employment authorisation for the period an asylum claim is pending.

Other regulations would ensure that absent exceptional circumstances, all asylum applications adjudicated in immigration court proceedings receive final administrative adjudication, not including administrative appeal, within 180 days of filing.

The memorandum did not mention the cost of the asylum application. It asked the Attorney General and the acting Secretary of Homeland Security to take appropriate actions within 90 days.

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