Thousands of migrants who were seeking asylum in the United States have given up and will either return or home or remain in Mexico to work, according to The New York Times.
Mexican officials told the newspaper that more than 1,000 migrants have agreed to be taken home by the Mexican government. Most of the migrants arrived in Mexico after fleeing violence in their home countries in Central America.
Another 1,000 migrants have chosen to stay in Mexico on work permits, officials told the Times.
President Trump, who promised during the campaign to stop illegal immigration, on Friday declared a national emergency in an attempt to bypass Congress and spend $8 billion on barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. Democrats have pledged to fight that declaration in court and with legislation, while some Republicans have also questioned the legality of the move.
The Trump administration had earlier required certain asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their legal cases are pending, meaning they could be forced to stay there for years.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has said that policy, known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program, is necessary to counter what the Trump administration has described as a humanitarian crisis at the border, the Times noted.
DHS faces a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies over that policy.
