EL PASO, Texas – Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey escorted a group of asylum-seeking migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border on Wednesday afternoon, according to KVIA.

NJ101.5 reported that Booker sought to get five illegal immigrant into the U.S. after they had previously been sent back to Mexico under the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy.

After discussions with lawyers and border officials, the group crossed the Santa Fe bridge from Cuidad Juárez to El Paso, where Booker spoke with reporters.

“I saw an opportunity that I could make a difference with my office,” Booker said, “and get them fairly evaluated.”

“We’re going to follow them all the way through that (asylum) process,” he added. “They’re legitimate, and they should be allowed entry.”

Booker’s efforts to personally accompany asylum seekers across the border came a day after his presidential campaign released his immigration plan, in which he said he’d end the border crisis with executive action and vowed to “virtually eliminate” immigration detention.

All five of the women were subject to the Migrant Protection Protocols program, which sends asylum seekers back to Mexico to await court hearings in the U.S. The alleged crimes against them were committed in some cases before they first crossed the U.S. border, in some cases after they were returned under MPP, Rivas said.

The protocols, sometimes called the “Remain in Mexico” plan, began to be implemented in March in El Paso.

Through June 30, more than 16,700 Cuban and Central American migrants have been returned to three Mexican border cities under the program, including 7,706 people returned to Juárez, according to Mexico’s National Immigration Institute.

The Department of Homeland Security said it instituted the plan because it will “help restore a safe and orderly immigration process,” according to a news release.

Booker described his visit in a series of tweets, saying the women had been abused and lived in squalid conditions with inadequate food, water and medical attention while detained in the U.S.

“These stories are profoundly alarming, but my words can’t begin to capture the pain. Their very human dignity is under assault, and it’s being done in our name,” he tweeted.

Linda Rivas, an attorney with the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, told The El Paso Times the women were victims of sexual assault and labor trafficking in Juarez.

They were subject to the “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP) program, which sends asylum seekers back to Mexico to await court hearings in the U.S., the paper reported.

“I saw an opportunity that I could make a difference with my office,” Booker said, “and get them fairly evaluated. We’re going to follow them all the way through that process. They’re legitimate and they should be allowed entry.”

Democratic Presidential candidate Cory Booker escorts migrants seeking asylum towards El Paso, Texas, U.S. He helped five victims of sexual assault get over the border (pictured with faces covered)

Rivas said the women will most likely be asked to prove they face significant risk if returned to Juarez.

“We hope that they are released from MPP and eventually allowed to seek asylum without being detained” or returned to Mexico, Rivas told the paper.

Booker is the second Democratic presidential candidate to visit Juarez. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke visited the border city on Sunday to draw attention to the plight of immigrants.

Booker’s visit comes a day after he unveiled an aggressive plan that would undo much of President Trump’s immigration plans. His proposal would expand protections for illegal immigrants through executive order and eliminate immigrant detention.

However, he has been accused of breaking the law by critics who claimed he violated legislation which prohibits ‘bringing or attempting to bring unauthorized aliens into the United States in any manner whatsoever, even at a designated port of entry’.

His trip across the border comes after Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez visited a detention center this week and said that illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers were ‘drinking out of toilets’ – a claim an agency official quickly denied.

Several Democratic leadership candidates have made visits to detention centers in recent weeks, including Bernie Sanders, Julian Castro, Kamala Harris, Beto O’Rourke Kirsten Gillibrand, Pete Buttigieg, and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Booker tweeted about his visit to Mexico, with photos and video of him escorting the illegal immigrants shared on social media.