A group of asylum seekers fleeing gang and drug violence in Honduras and Mexico were improperly turned away at the U.S.-Mexico border by border patrol agents, a lawsuit filed against the U.S. government on Wednesday said.
The lawsuit said some U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have referred to the tough immigration policies of President Donald Trump when turning asylum seekers back. But it also said human rights groups have documented "hundreds" of cases dating back to at least the summer of 2016, before Trump's election win in November.
The American Immigration Council and other groups filed the lawsuit on behalf of a non-profit legal services group called "Al Otro Lado" and six unidentified people in U.S. District Court in central California, the class action lawsuit said border agents have used "misrepresentations, threats and intimidation," to tell asylum seekers they cannot enter the country at various border crossings in California, Arizona and Texas.