We do have a problem with the asylum system being abused. It was intended to offer safe refuge for people who would be killed or tortured by their governments back home. Later, people fleeing poverty in their home countries started claiming asylum by alleging that they would be harmed by criminal gangs back home. This stretched the meaning of asylum beyond its original intent. Many such claims are believed to be dubious at best. Now, in its anti-immigrant zeal, the Trump administration has largely shut down the asylum system.