Asylum seekers face decision to split up families or wait indefinitely under new border policy

WASHINGTON — Inside a tent near the Rio Grande in Matamorros, Mexico, Jeyson woke up every day for a month before 3 a.m. to fill out applications to request asylum for his family of four through a U.S. government mobile app.

The 25-year-old from Venezuela eventually secured appointments for himself and his wife, but the slots filled up so quickly that he couldn't get two more for their children. They weren't worried though — they had heard about families in similar situations being waved through by border officials.

Instead, he said, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent told them last week that because each member of the family did not have an appointment: "You two can enter, but not your children." Jeyson asked The Times to withhold his last name out of fear for his family's safety.

Now many families like Jeyson's have found themselves confronted with a seemingly impossible decision: Wait indefinitely for