Immigrants post one number from the waiting list, indicating that only 10 migrants will have the chance to cross the border and apply for asylum in the US that day.

A Customs and Border Protection officer said supervisors instructed them to lie about not having space to process asylum-seekers at the border and turning them away, according to court documents.

In a Nov. 19 deposition, a CBP officer at the Tecate, California, port of entry said that despite having space to process asylum-seekers most days, they didn't.

"So you were instructed to lie to people when turning them back; is that right?" said the plaintiff's attorney Stephen Medlock.

"We were instructed, yes," the unidentified CBP officer said.

CBP said it doesn't comment on pending litigation.

The deposition is a federal case filed in the Southern District in California by Al Otro Lado, a binational legal service provider, and other groups challenging the Trump administration practice of telling asylum-seekers the agency doesn't have the space or officers to process them. The deposition was taken in November and filed in court on Jan. 6.

Asylum-seekers wait for weeks or months for their turn to ask the US for protection. The practice, known as metering or queuing, was started by the Obama administration and expanded by President Donald Trump.



Advocates and attorneys at the border maintain that making asylum-seekers wait for months along the border was essentially denying them asylum and a violation of US laws.

The CBP officer said a manager would come up to the international border crossing where asylum-seekers presented themselves and turn them back.

"And when they said the port was at capacity, you knew that was a lie, right?" Medlock asked the officer.

"Yes," the CBP officer said.

"And it would have been obvious to those supervisors that it was a lie as well, correct?" Medlock said.

"Correct," the CBP officer said.

"In fact, it was obvious to everybody who was implementing this policy at Tecate that the capacity excuse was a lie, right?" Medlock said.

"Correct," the CBP officer said.