Trump administration appears to violate law in forcing asylum-seekers back to Mexico, officials warn

MEXICALI, Mexico - From the roadside, Oswaldo Ortiz-Luna offered a box of candy to the cars idling in the golden dust of northern Mexico. His wife hawked another box of sweets farther up the line of traffic, perching their 18-month-old daughter on one hip. Sticky fruit and tears smudged the baby's cheeks.

As the sun went down, Oswaldo and his family of six hadn't yet sold enough candy for the roughly $6 they needed to spend the night at a nearby shelter. They are among the thousands of asylum-seekers trapped just beyond the border under the Trump administration's signature policy - "Remain in Mexico."

Under the Migrant Protection Protocols - better known as Remain in Mexico - Trump administration officials have pushed 35,122 asylum-seekers back across the U.S. southern border in roughly seven months, according to Homeland Security Department reports reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. One-third of the migrants were returned to Mexico from California. The vast majority have been scattered throughout Mexico within the last 60 days.

While their cases wind through court in the United States, the asylum-seekers are forced to wait in Mexico, in cities that the U.S. State Department considers some of the most dangerous in the world. They have been attacked, sexually assaulted, and extorted. A number have died.

In dozens of interviews and in court proceedings, current and former officials, judges, lawyers and advocates for asylum-seekers said that Homeland Security officials implementing Remain in Mexico appear to be violating U.S. law, and the human cost is rising. Testimony from another dozen asylum-seekers confirmed that they were being removed without the safeguards provided by U.S. law. The alleged legal violations include denying asylum-seekers' rights and knowingly putting them at risk of physical harm - against federal regulations and the Immigration and Nationality Act, the foundation of the U.S. immigration system. U.S. law grants migrants the right to seek protection in the United States.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers are writing the phrase "domicilio conocido," or "known address," on asylum-seekers' paperwork instead of a legally required address, making