Changes in asylum policy could boost border crossings

TIJUANA, Mexico — The Trump administration’s decision to make asylum seekers wait in Mexico while their cases wind through clogged U.S. courts was announced with crucial details still unknown — a move that creates uncertainty along the border and possibly an incentive for people to cross illegally before the changes take effect.

The policy shift would force asylum seekers to stay in often-dangerous Mexican border cities as they navigate the American immigration court system. Little immediately changed at Mexico’s busiest U.S. border crossing, where Mauricio Gomez of Nicaragua joined about 150 others Friday to learn if his name would be called to claim asylum.