Asylum seekers who enter the U.S. illegally will be forced to wait in Mexico while their cases wind their way through immigration courts, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced Thursday.
The deal with Mexico, which is effective immediately, could force asylum seekers to wait out the process in the U.S.'s southern border for months or possibly years.
Nielsen called the new policy "historic," claiming it "will confront" the immigration crisis from Central America where people are fleeing rampant poverty and violence.
"We will reduce illegal migration by removing one of the key incentives that encourages people from taking the dangerous journey to the United States in the first place," she said in a statement.
The U.S. expects that asylum seekers will receive humanitarian visas to allow them to stay in Mexico and work while they are in the country awaiting a U.S. ruling, Nielsen said.
Potential asylees will only be allowed to enter the U.S. if a judge upholds their claim, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a hardline approach to immigration -- both legal and illegal -- during his time in office.
He was dealt two separate legal defeats on Wednesday tied to his efforts to curb asylum claims.
His administration had sought to make ineligible for asylum anyone who crossed the U.S. border at a point other than an official port of entry.
The judge in that case issued a nationwide preliminary injunction on the proposed rule while a separate federal judge blocked the administration's attempt to restrict asylum claims from those fleeing gang and domestic violence.
