Trump administration starts 'remain in Mexico' policy in El Paso, Texas

The Department of Homeland Security began rolling out in El Paso, Texas, Wednesday its policy of requiring asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while they await court hearings in their cases, NBC News has learned. A DHS official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said people subject to the the policy, called Migrant Protection Protocols by the Trump administration, will be required to remain in Mexico beginning later this week. The policy began in January at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego, where migrants were told to wait in Tijuana, Mexico, while their asylum requests were processed. The waits are now imposed on migrants trying to cross anywhere in the San Diego sector of the California-Mexico border. The administration has been trying to slash the number of people who cross the border at ports of entry or who enter the U.S. without legal documentation and request asylum. Asylum cases can take months or years to complete. Previously, asylum seekers with pending cases were allowed to wait them out in the United States. The administration has defended the new policy as necessary to protect migrants from danger and end exploitation of immigration laws. It is also designed to curb the number of immigrants the government must keep track of while they await the outcomes of their cases. The expansion comes as El Paso experiences a rise in the number of people stopped for trying to enter the U.S. without proper documentation. The apprehended migrants are processed and eventually released, which recently has inundated Annunciation House, a local non-profit, and its partners, that are scrambling to shelter them. On Tuesday, so many people were released by government officials, the El Paso city-county Office of Emergency Management readied a local recreation center to house about 150 individuals...MORE