U.S. asylum officers say President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy is threatening migrants’ lives, The Washington Post is reporting.
The policy forces migrants to stay in Mexico while awaiting immigration hearings in the United States. The asylum officers, who are directed to implement the policy, are asking a federal court to put an end to it. They call it “fundamentally contrary to the moral fabric of our nation.”
The labor union representing the officers has filed a friend-of-the-court brief siding with the American Civil Liberties Union in challenging Trump’s policy, formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols program.
The Post noted the program has already sent 12,000 asylum-seeking migrants to Mexico since the start of the year.
The union said in court papers that the policy is forcing sworn officers to participate in the “widespread violation” of international and federal law — “something that they did not sign up to do when they decided to become asylum and refugee officers for the United States government.”
“Asylum officers are duty bound to protect vulnerable asylum seekers from persecution,” the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1924 said in a papers filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in California. “They should not be forced to honor departmental directives that are fundamentally contrary to the moral fabric of our nation and our international and domestic legal obligations.
NPR noted the legal filing is unusual because federal workers are criticizing a president’s policy they have been directed to follow.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.