U.S. expands program on migrants’ wait

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government said Tuesday that it has expanded a program requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases proceed through immigration court. Officials also reported that 240 migrants seeking asylum have been returned to Mexico under the program.

Homeland Security officials said the program is now also at the Calexico port of entry, about 120 miles east of the San Ysidro port in San Diego, where it began in late January.

The Trump administration’s program is being implemented as border arrests soared in February to a 12-year high. More than half of those stopped arrived as asylum-seeking families, who have typically been released from U.S. custody and allowed to settle with family or friends while their cases wind through immigration courts. Critics, including President Donald Trump, have said that amounts to “catch-and-release,” which administration officials want to limit. The number of asylum cases has skyrocketed, and there is now a backlog of nearly 700,000 immigration court cases.

In response to the announcement, Mexico’s Foreign Relations and Interior departments said in a joint statement that they disagreed with what they called a unilateral U.S. policy change. The statement said Mexico has worked with U.S. officials for “humanitarian reasons,” adding that many of those returned have permission to stay in Mexico.

A lawsuit challenging the program is now pending in a federal court in California.