A leaked image from inside a federal court shows dozens of immigrants in orange jumpsuits with their hands and feet shackled in the process of undergoing a 'mass trial' in Texas.

Under the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy on illegal immigration, scenes like this one in Pecos, are becoming more the norm according The Intercept's reporter Debbie Nathan.

Because cameras are typically strictly forbidden in federal court, these new mass proceedings are an unfamiliar sight to those not present inside the courtrooms.

Nathan, who has been covering border and immigration issues for three decades, tells Chron.com he finds covering mass trials particularly upsetting.

A 'mass trial' of immigrants in the Trump administration's zero-tolerance policy has lead to scenes like this one in a federal court in Pecos, Texas

Many of the immigrants coming into the United States are poor families from crime ridden countries like El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. They often seek asylum citing the daily violence in their home countries.

Thousands of immigrants cross the US-Mexico border each week and immediately turn themselves in to authorities asking for asylum.

Last month attorney general Jeff Sessions announced a 'zero tolerance' policy that will see every unauthorized border crosser charged with a crime even before they can even request asylum.

'Today, we are here to send a message to the world: we are not going to let this country be overwhelmed... If you cross this border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you,' Sessions said last month.

In April alone, 50,924 people were detained after crossing the border without papers, including 4,314 unaccompanied children and 9,647 family units, according to US Customs and Border Patrol.

'The atmosphere is extremely subdued,' Nathan said. 'People are very exhausted, very demoralized ... You get the feeling that they don't know whats going on.'

Public defenders only have mere minutes to meet with each defendant, when the judge asks a question the entire room must answer in unison to save time.

Meanwhile many of those standing in the mass trials have no idea where their children are.

'It feels like an assembly line,' Nathan said. 'It's a mass production of guilty pleas.'

Under the Trump administrations zero tolerance policy on illegal immigrants, many are being charged with a crime before they can seek asylum

'It's horrible, I've been pretty broken by all of this,' she said.

The Obama administration occasionally held mass trials, but they have become a common occurrence under Trump.

The person who took this photo, while breaking the rules of federal court, is said to have felt compelled to do so after witnessing the effects of the Trump administration's policy first hand.

The fate of those in this photo is not known but similar cases can meet with a variety of outcomes.

In Brownsville, a small Texas city on the U.S.-Mexico border, federal magistrate Judge Ronald G. Morgan, recent cases have seen a blanket sentence for all of the defendants, according to The Intercept.

In one hearing for 32 defendants he handed down time served - no fine or further jail time and the convicts were sent to an ICE detention center to later be deported.

Before the zero tolerance policy began if a detainee expressed credible fear of returning to their home country then federal prosecutors would request that the criminal illegal entry charges be dropped and the person would be referred directly to the asylum system.

Immigrants who weren’t making asylum claims went through the criminal process.

Most pleaded guilty. Tje judge had the power to sentence first-time illegal entrants to six months in prison but most got time served and were then deported.

Those who claimed asylum would stay in U.S. — with their kids — while their cases proceeded.

The government sees the new policy as a necessary deterrent to illegal immigration, but the critics say it is cruel to refugees and asylum seekers fleeing violence in Central America to be separated from their children in the process.

'This attorney general made a decision to separate our kids from their parents. This is immoral, it's a crime, and we are not going to accept that,' said Gustavo Torres, executive director of the immigrant advocacy group CASA.

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit challenging the policy, calling it a violation of human rights.

'Separating families is more than cruel and unnecessary - it's torture,' the ACLU said.