U.S. immigration authorities have reportedly started busing asylum-seekers who cross the border in Arizona to Texas, where they're sent to Mexico to await court hearings.
The government said its highly criticized program known as Remain in Mexico was now in effect all along the border, the Associated Press reported.
U.S. officials say the program has helped drastically reduce the number of migrants arriving at the border.
The program “works and is a game-changer in addressing the ongoing border crisis,” Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said in a tweet Friday.
Critics say the move makes it nearly impossible to gain asylum.
“At taxpayer expense, this decision will transport people seeking asylum in Arizona over 300 miles to a dangerous Mexican city, where it is difficult to access legal services and where few people have the support of their family and communities,” Katie Sharar, director of communications for the Kino Border Initiative, a Catholic organization that helps migrants, told AP.
The Washington Post first reported that authorities planned on busing asylum-seekers from Arizona to El Paso. Migrants apprehended in Arizona will also be subject to the program, called Migrant Protection Protocols.
The program was launched in January and has forced more than 55,000 asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico. A legal challenge of the program is pending in California, the AP reported.
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