asylum

The administration had planned to expand the program of requiring asylum-seekers to return to Mexico as they await court hearings in the U.S. Now it has to first defend the policy in court.

A 1996 law limited the ability of immigrants to appeal asylum officers' decisions of whether they truly fear persecution in their home country. An appeals court says those limits are unconstitutional.

The new procedure is designed to prevent applicants from remaining in the U.S. while they await a hearing before an immigration judge.

The plan, expected to meet with a swift legal challenge, comes out of talks with Mexican officials. The administration is implementing it first at the San Ysidro, Calif., port of entry.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Thursday that migrants entering the U.S. from Mexico — regardless of country of origin — must wait in Mexico while their claims are heard.

In June, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a ban on asylum-seekers fleeing gang violence or domestic abuse. A federal judge on Wednesday blocked that ban, saying it had "no legal basis."

A U.S. district court ruled that President Trump's proclamation banning anyone seeking asylum from entering the U.S. without crossing a port of entry violates existing law.

As Trump cracks down on asylum-seekers, federal lawsuits argue that the administration is turning its back on legal precedent and international law.

The change announced on Thursday is designed to prohibit migrants who cross the border outside of designated entry points from seeking asylum in the U.S. A legal challenge was filed on Friday.

In June, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced they would house 1,600 immigrant detainees in federal prisons. But now nearly all detainees have been moved elsewhere, deported, or released.