Last weekend at the San Ysidro border crossing, two unaccompanied minors were among a small group asylum seekers who were illegally blocked from presenting themselves at the border—until a leading House Democrat stepped in. Congress member Pramila Jayapal of Washington state was visiting asylum seekers on the Mexican side of the border when she intervened.

“I was able to successfully assist five asylum seekers—two unaccompanied minors, a mother and her nine year old child, and a young man with a serious medical condition—into the United States,” she tweeted Saturday. “Initially they were denied, in violation of U.S. and international law, but I was able to intervene and ensure that they could simply present themselves for asylum in the United States.”

Jayapal said in a Facebook Live video that the incident occurred when she was returning to the U.S. and walked behind the group without identifying herself to port of entry officials. When the asylum seekers tried to present themselves, “they were told that they couldn’t go in because that port was not accepting any asylum seekers and they were going to be turned away.”

Despite a historic loss in the House last month, the administration has only escalated its attacks on asylum seekers. Border officials have been slow-walking processing, leaving many to have to wait for weeks and even months. Others have been turned away altogether. That appeared to be the case this past weekend, until Jayapal spoke out.