(CNN) A federal appeals court grappled with two of the Trump administration's controversial asylum policies Tuesday, appearing to take issue with some of the same aspects that immigrant advocacy groups have challenged.

One of the policies before a three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday was the Migrant Protection Protocols program, which requires some migrants to wait in Mexico for the duration of their immigration proceedings. When the 9th Circuit first heard oral arguments in April, Judge Paul J. Watford expressed skepticism over not asking asylum seekers , who are predominantly from Central American countries, whether they fear returning to Mexico as they wait for their hearing dates.

On Tuesday, Judge William A. Fletcher piggybacked off those concerns. "I think you're in real trouble at least insofar as Judge Watford has told you. You don't even ask whether they have any kind of fear," Fletcher told Justice Department lawyer Scott Stewart.

Stewart suggested that migrants would volunteer that information if they were afraid of returning to Mexico. Fletcher appeared unconvinced.

The panel also considered the challenge to a Trump policy to temporarily bar migrants who illegally cross into the US from the southern border from seeking asylum outside of official ports of entry.