To win the Democrat presidential primaries, candidates such as failed Texas senatorial nominee Beto O’Rourke and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker have taken to courting alleged asylum seekers.

This new election strategy began with O’Rourke, who traveled to the Mexican town of Ciudad Juárez last weekend to meet and speak with alleged asylum seekers.

In Ciudad Juarez, ⁦@BetoORourke⁩ meets with Central American asylum seekers forced to wait at a Mexican shelter. 19-year-old woman on the left was separated from her parents and younger siblings at the border. They were allowed to go to California; she was sent to Juarez. pic.twitter.com/A5XVJKf6P4 — Bob Moore (@BobMooreNews) June 30, 2019

Never to be outdone, Booker upped the ante three days later by traveling to the same city and, not only speaking with alleged asylum seekers, but also reportedly escorting five of them into the United States in possible violation of federal immigration laws.

Watch:

According to independent reporter Andrew Kimmel, the asylum seekers had been sent back to Mexico after applying for asylum as per the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MMP) program, which mandates that asylum seekers wait in Mexico as their asylum claims are processed.

Launched earlier this year, the program is designed to disincentivize asylum fraud, which even anti-Trump CNN host Fareed Zakaria has admitted is a problem, and also lessen the crowding at U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s overcrowded detention facilities.

“Aliens trying to game the system to get into our country illegally will no longer be able to disappear into the United States, where many skip their court dates. Instead, they will wait for an immigration court decision while they are in Mexico,” then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced at the time of the policy’s implementation in January.

“‘Catch and release’ will be replaced with ‘catch and return.’ In doing so, we will reduce illegal migration by removing one of the key incentives that encourages people from taking the dangerous journey to the United States in the first place. This will also allow us to focus more attention on those who are actually fleeing persecution.”

The first asylum seeker to be returned to the US under President Trumps Remain in Mexico program, Carlos Catarlo Gomez from Honduras crossed in to Mexico from the US at the El Chapparal port of entry by San Diego on Tuesday. #remaininmexico pic.twitter.com/OhPmg7Cuoz — John Gibbins (@JohnGibbinsSDUT) January 29, 2019

In defense of his actions, Booker told Kimmel and a group of other reporters Wednesday that he believes the five asylum seekers were “unjustly denied the ability to present themselves for asylum.”

That was patently false. The fact that they must wait for their asylum claims to be processed isn’t in any way, shape or form equivalent to them being “unjustly denied” the right to apply for asylum.

Listen:

“…I’m gonna fight for these five folks and do everything I can to see that they get fairly evaluated. This is a long process that they’re now engaged in and I’m gonna make sure my office does the right thing…” @SenBooker upon arriving across the border pic.twitter.com/PuFbu7p18d — Andrew Kimmel (@andrewkimmel) July 3, 2019

“It’s given me a greater conviction, a greater sense of determination, to fix this broken system & to correct the horrible things that Donald Trump is doing from the exec. office. I believe the next president can transform this system to make it safer & stronger as a nation…” pic.twitter.com/ehVxOtSwaz — Andrew Kimmel (@andrewkimmel) July 3, 2019

When Kimmel, a former BuzzFeed News reporter who seems to lean to the left, questioned the senator about unfounded rumors that asylum seekers are having their passports confiscated by U.S. border officials, Booker admitted that he hasn’t “heard specifically any [such] reports.”

I asked @SenBooker if he heard of border patrol confiscating passports of some asylum seekers. He said he has not heard of any specific cases. However, it is something that is happening to many people being sent back, of which myself & others have heard from migrants first-hand. pic.twitter.com/3WoIXSAjMB — Andrew Kimmel (@andrewkimmel) July 3, 2019

Kimmel has claimed he’s personally witnessed passports being confiscated, but his Twitter feed contains no video evidence to substantiate these dubious allegations.

Booker’s stunt Wednesday occurred a day after the publication of his official 2020 immigration plan. Available for review here, the plan makes no mention of securing the borders or helping families who’ve lost loved ones to illegal alien crime. Instead, it focuses entirely on “modernizing immigration” by essentially transforming America into an open-borders nation.

HERE’S WHAT YOU’RE MISSING …

“As president, Cory will make sure that our immigration system treats immigrants with dignity because when people cross borders, they bring their human rights with them,” his radical proposal reads.

“He will fight for a system that recognizes that immigrants make our country stronger and that we need each other to move our country forward. Cory will fight for the passage of legislation in Congress that reforms our immigration system and provides earned citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants living and working with us as our colleagues, neighbors, and friends.”

The response on social media to both his radical proposal and his attention-seeking stunt have been brutal, with critics excoriating him for making a mockery of America’s immigration laws and exploiting asylum seekers — some of whose claims may not even be legitimate — for political gain. Some even called for him to be arrested.

Maybe he can return to Newark where he failed the city. Visit Newark Penn Station at night and decide. @Amtrak @AmtrakNECAlerts — David Webb (@davidwebbshow) July 4, 2019

Way to exploit border crossers who would never lie to get free access to the American life. Nope, never, especially considering 90% asylum seekers are not in need of asylum. — VeronicaCorningstone (@andreaUSA7373) July 4, 2019

Hey, @CoryBooker, did you help coach them in the use of proper trigger-words and verbiage to exploit Immigration Law loopholes to claim asylum, wait for initial processing, outlast the center capacities, and get released into the interior of the country with cash assistance? — Timothy Kerby ?? (@TimothyKerby) July 4, 2019

Great, exploit people for political gain and optics while they have little chance of getting in. Congrats — J (I Cant Recall) Comey (@tcat0169) July 4, 2019

@realDonaldTrump When are we going to see these anti Americans locked up. @CoryBooker aiding and abetting criminal illegal aliens cross our border, @IlhanMN breaks our immigration laws and now wants to abolish ICE and border patrol. @RashidaTlaib throwing out threats. Treason? — Hannah NH (@ConsrvtvTX) July 4, 2019

CBP should arrest @CoryBooker for smuggling illegal migrants across the border which is a crime. These Democrats need to enforce immigration laws, not defy them. Please lock him up. He will NEVER be President. — Michael Mars (@MikeMars23) July 4, 2019

HERE’S WHAT YOU’RE MISSING …