The Nina Maria day care center is one of many projects run by the Diocese of Cucuta to help Venezuelan migrants, who are leaving their country to escape poverty, violence and an increasingly authoritarian government.

Venezuelan migrants and refugees have ended up mostly in nearby countries like Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, where governments have struggled to provide them with basic services.

Of the 7,000 asylum cases that have been completed in the El Paso sector since the policy was implemented, only 15 individuals received asylum—a denial rate of more than 99 percent.

Catholic Charities USA condemned the decision, calling it “harsh and unnecessary.”

In June 2018, U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw ordered the government to stop separating families and reunite parents and children.

The Department of Homeland Security chose not to redesignate Somalia as a T.P.S.-eligible state, a move sought by advocates. Jill Marie Bussey, advocacy director for Clinic, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, called that decision “senseless and cruel.”