LGBTQ, Disabled Asylum Seekers Cross the Border with Julián Castro (Molly Hennessy-Fiske)

More than 50,000 asylum seekers have been sent to Mexico to await the outcome of their U.S. immigration court cases since the Migrant Protection Protocols, known as Remain in Mexico, began in January. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials initially said “vulnerable” migrantswould be exempted from the program. But scores of LGBTQ, disabled and pregnant asylum seekers have still been returned to Mexico.

Aslyum seekers who were returned under the policy reported 340 violent attacks last month — including rape, kidnapping and torture — according to a report by the nonprofit Human Rights First.