Mexicans fleeing violence camp in a queue to try to cross into the US to apply for asylum at Cordova-Americas border crossing bridge in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

An increasing number of Mexican asylum-seekers are being sent back by US border authorities to the country from which they are fleeing, attorneys and immigrant advocates say, leaving them in potentially dangerous circumstances as they await the chance to receive protection in the United States.

In the Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez at least 1,000 Mexican asylum-seekers — many of whom are children — are living in makeshift encampments near official border crossings, said Shaw Drake, policy counsel at the Border Rights Center for the ACLU of Texas.

“CBP continues to reject asylum-seekers at ports of entry, including Mexican nationals,” Drake told BuzzFeed News.

For years, Mexican nationals have been among those from all over the world presenting themselves at the US border for their chance to ask for asylum, though in smaller numbers than the thousands seeking refuge from Central American countries. Often CBP officers at international border crossings tell asylum-seekers they don't have room to process them and tell them to come back when they have space, which could be weeks or months. Advocates have long complained that unlike Central Americans, the US was sending Mexicans back to the country from which they were seeking protection, putting them in danger.

Now, Mexican nationals increasingly fleeing cartel violence in the country are being forced to wait at official border crossings in violent cities across from Texas like Ciudad Juárez, Drake said. The US, he said, is violating its own laws, as well as international law, by sending Mexican asylum-seekers back to the country they are trying to receive protection from.

"I think CBP understands how illegal it is for the US to turn away Mexicans back into Mexico, but they are doing it anyway," Drake said of US Customs and Border Protection officials.



In a statement, a CBP spokesperson said it processes undocumented immigrants as quickly as possibly, but that its port of entry facilities aren't designed to hold hundreds of asylum-seekers at a time. CBP officers at international crossings who usually are the first to encounter asylum-seekers aren't weighing the validity of their claims, the agency said, but are instead making sure people have proper documentation to enter the US.

"If they do not and there is no space available at the CBP facility they are instructed to wait," the agency said in a statement. "Every month CBP officers in El Paso are processing hundreds of asylum seekers who claim fear at area ports from a variety of nations."

CBP said it has redirected resources from vehicle entry lanes in El Paso to increase its ability to process asylum-seekers from Mexico's Ciudad Juárez, leading to longer wait times for vehicles at the Paso Del Norte port of entry.

"As we have done for several years, when our ports of entry reach capacity, we have to manage the queues and individuals presenting without documents may need to wait in Mexico as CBP officers work to process those already within our facilities," CBP said.