Asylum officers ask court to end Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy, say it threatens migrants’ lives

A federal appeals court is being urged by U.S. asylum officers to end the Trump administration’s controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy, the Washington Post reported.

The request made on Wednesday to block the program contends that it runs “fundamentally contrary to the moral fabric of our nation and our international legal and domestic obligations.”

The union representing asylum officers, who are responsible for implementing the president’s directive, also maintain it threatens the lives of migrants by forcing them to wait in Mexico for their immigration court hearings.

“Asylum officers are duty bound to protect vulnerable asylum seekers from persecution. However, under the (Migrant Protection Protocols), they face a conflict between the directives of their departmental leaders to follow the MPP and adherence to our Nation’s legal commitment to not returning the persecuted to a territory where they will face persecution,” they wrote in their court filing.

A lower court first blocked the policy earlier this year, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals later allowed it to continue pending appeal.