Immigration advocates accuse the Trump administration of being more aggressive with the metering system than officials under former President Barack Obama to slow the flow of migrants at ports of entry.

Since taking office nearly two years ago, Mr. Trump has railed against what he calls weak laws that allow migrants who are caught crossing illegally to claim asylum under false pretenses so they can be released into the United States. Because of a backlog in the immigration courts, migrants can sometimes wait for years for a judge to determine the validity of their asylum claim.

Last month, the administration, invoking national security powers meant to protect the United States against threats from abroad, announced new rules that gave Mr. Trump vast authority to deny asylum to nearly all migrants who illegally enter the country. Those who showed up at ports of entry were not affected by the regulations.

A federal court has issued a temporary restraining order against the new regulations, which draw upon the same authority Mr. Trump used just days after his inauguration to ban travel from several predominantly Muslim countries.

They are among the many ways the administration has tried to cut the number of asylum seekers.

In July, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions made it all but impossible for asylum seekers to gain entry into the United States by citing fears of domestic abuse or gang violence.

“An alien may suffer threats and violence in a foreign country for any number of reasons relating to her social, economic, family or other personal circumstances,” Mr. Sessions wrote. “Yet the asylum statute does not provide redress for all misfortune.”

Mr. Trump has fumed for months about the surge of immigrants crossing into the United States from Mexico. In October, he ordered nearly 6,000 active duty troops to the southwest border to help Customs and Border Protection prevent the migrants from entering illegally.