Elliot Spagat, Author at Greenfield Recorder

Immigration guards finish loading a van of asylum seekers leaving court under guard after some of them learned that they won't have to return to Mexico in light of a major federal court ruling against the Trump administration on Friday, Feb. 28, 2020, in El Paso, Texas. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that sending asylum seekers to wait in Mexico is illegal nationwide. The ruling came during the asylum testimony of one family in the group being put into the van. The blue bags, marked "for court only" are typically laden with sandwiches and water bottles for migrants appearing in court. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio)

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Court temporarily halts Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy

by Elliot Spagat Associated PressFebruary 28, 2020

SAN DIEGO — Dealing a significant blow to a signature Trump administration immigration policy, a federal appeals court ruled Friday that the government can no longer make asylum-seekers wait in Mexico while their cases wind through U.S. immigration…

Esvin Fernando Arredondo of Guatemala reunites with his daughters Andrea, left, Keyli, right, and Alison at Los Angeles Airport, Wednesday, after being separated during the Trump administration’s wide-scale separation of immigrant families.

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9 parents separated from families return to children in US

by Nomaan Merchant Associated Press, and Elliot Spagat Associated PressJanuary 23, 2020

In this Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019, photo, Lizbeth poses for a portrait in a relative's home behind a page from her court documents in Tijuana, Mexico. Lizbeth, a Salvadoran woman seeking asylum in the United States, never thought she would be returned to Mexico to wait for the outcome of her case, after suffering multiple assaults, and being kidnapped into prostitution on her journey through Mexico. Critics of the Trump administration's "Migrant Protection Protocols" policy, say it denies asylum seekers fair and humane treatment, largely by forcing them to wait in a country plagued by large pockets of drug-fueled violence, demonstrated this week by the slaughter near the U.S. border of several children and women. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

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Migrants live in fear at Mexico-US border as violence flares

by Elliot Spagat Associated PressNovember 6, 2019

In this July 28 photo, Cameroonians wait in a rented apartment in Tijuana, Mexico, until their names are called to claim asylum in the U.S.

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Number of migrants waiting at US border surges to 40,000

by Elliot Spagat Associated PressAugust 8, 2019

Migrants line up along an entrance to the border crossing as they wait to apply for asylum in the United States, Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in Tijuana, Mexico. Dozens of immigrants lined up Tuesday at a major Mexico border crossing, waiting to learn how the Trump administration's plans to end most asylum protections would affect their hopes of taking refuge in the United States. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

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Trump’s new asylum rules go into effect, and opponents sue

by Elliot Spagat Associated Press, and Cedar Attanasio Associated PressJuly 16, 2019

President Trump speaks during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, in Washington, Thursday.

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Trump may struggle to meet his deportation threat

by Colleen Long Associated Press, Jill Colvin Associated Press, and Elliot Spagat Associated PressJune 18, 2019

CORRECTS SPELLING OF RABBI'S FIRST NAME TO YISROEL INSTEAD OF YISHOEL - Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, right, comforts Almog Peretz, center, Monday, April 29, 2019, as they attend the funeral for Lori Kaye, who was killed Saturday when a gunman opened fire inside the Chabad of Poway synagogue in Poway, Calif. Goldstein lost a finger in the shooting, and Peretz was also injured. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

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Parents stunned athlete son accused in synagogue attack

by Elliot Spagat Associated Press, and Julie Watson Associated PressApril 30, 2019

FILE - In this March 14, 2019, file photo, Jose Fermin Gonzalez Cruz holds his son, William Josue Gonzales Garcia, 2, as they wait with other families who crossed the nearby U.S.-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas, for Border Patrol agents to check names and documents. A surge in family arrivals, largely from Guatemala and Honduras, has led Border Patrol agents to shift attention from preparing criminal cases to caring for children. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

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A year later, Trump’s ‘zero tolerance’ border policy frays

by Elliot Spagat Associated Press, and Nomaan Merchant Associated PressApril 4, 2019

FILE - In this Dec. 3, 2018, file photo, migrants are escorted by a U.S. Border Patrol agent as they are detained after climbing over the border wall from Playas de Tijuana, Mexico, to San Ysidro, Calif. The Trump administration's effort to make asylum seekers wait in Mexico explicitly targets Spanish-speakers and people from Latin America, according to internal guidelines of a highly touted strategy to address the burgeoning number of Central Americans arriving at U.S. borders. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

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Memos reveal that US asylum shift targets Spanish speakers

by Elliot Spagat Associated PressMarch 6, 2019

Carlos Catarldo Gomez, of Honduras, center, is escorted by Mexican officials after leaving the United States, the first person returned to Mexico to wait for his asylum trial date, in Tijuana, Mexico, Tuesday.

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US launches plan for asylum seekers to wait in Mexico

by Elliot Spagat Associated PressJanuary 29, 2019