EL PASO, TEXAS/TAOS: The United States is more than doubling the number of asylum seekers it returns to Mexico in one city. US administration is also adding groups like Cubans as it rapidly expands a policy to make migrants wait out claims south of the border.

The policy, known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), is being applied to all Spanish-speaking asylum seekers, other than Mexicans, at three U.S.-Mexico border crossings.

Trump administration plans to expand the programme, which faces court challenges, across the border to act as a deterrent to frivolous asylum claims during a surge in Central American migrant families. A U.S. Department of Homeland Security official said the administration was considering building temporary immigration courts along the border to process MPP returnees.

As of June 19, according to Mexican officials, 13,987 people had been returned to Mexico under MPP. (Agencies)