US Customs and Border Protection agents process a Cuban family who traveled through Mexico to seek asylum in the US.

At least one asylum officer won’t enforce a new regulation that ended asylum protections for hundreds of thousands of Central Americans and other immigrants, calling the change "illegal" and "immoral."

The asylum officer spoke with BuzzFeed News on Tuesday, detailing a chaotic rollout of sweeping, unprecedented changes to the asylum policies that she works with often. Like other Americans, she learned of the changes Monday morning via news reports.

“I was horrified,” she said. The officer added that she received no official word on the change until an email with guidance was sent Monday night from the head of US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ asylum division. The email was detailed to BuzzFeed News.

“I saw it right as I was coming to work,” she said. “We’re all aghast.”

Through a regulatory change, the US will end asylum protections for any individual who crosses through a third country but does not apply for protection there before reaching the US's southern border. The ban will not just apply to Central Americans, but scores of other immigrants who are not Mexican and travel through Mexico to reach the US border. Advocates challenged the ban in federal court on Tuesday.

It’s the latest move by the Trump administration to not only restrict protection for those seeking refuge, but to force some asylum officers to carry out policies they don’t agree with. Administration officials have said the policy is necessary to stop the high number of families crossing the border in recent months. The asylum officer BuzzFeed News spoke with said she refuses to enforce the policy.

“It’s facially illegal. I mean, I don't personally plan to [enforce it]. If it's not enjoined ... I will ask for other duties, I guess,” said the officer, who requested anonymity because she was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. “I need this job, but my oath of office won't allow me to make adjudications contrary to the law.”

Among other officers, she added, the mood was similar: “Everyone seems to think it's racist and illegal. I seem to be the only person that is unwilling to continue. Everyone expects an injunction."