U.S. Customs and Border Protection uses “metering” as a way to manage the flow of people seeking entry at official ports of entry — capping the daily number of asylum applications received at official border crossings.

We can’t know for certain whether Martínez Ramírez heard about metering or any other policies, so we aren’t rating Castro’s statement on the Truth-O-Meter. But it doesn’t seem far-fetched: Metering may lead migrants to cross the border illegally, according to experts and government investigators. 

…With the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy in effect, government officials have still publicly encouraged asylum seekers to enter the United States legally through a port of entry to avoid prosecution and family separations. However, at the same time, Customs and Border Protection is regulating the flow of asylum seekers at ports of entry through “metering.” A version of the practice has been used at least as far back as 2016, during the Obama administration, according to a September 2018 report from the Office of Inspector General within the Department of Homeland Security.

When metering, Customs and Border Protection officers stand at the international line in the middle of the foot bridges, the report said, and officers only allow asylum seekers to cross the line if space is available. 

“While the stated intentions behind metering may be reasonable, the practice [also has very negative] consequences,” the report stated. “For instance, (Office of Inspector General) saw evidence that limiting the volume of asylum-seekers entering at ports of entry leads some aliens who would otherwise seek legal entry into the United States to cross the border illegally.”

…A May 2019 study from immigration experts suggests there are more than 18,700 asylum seekers waiting in Mexico border cities. One of the report’s researchers, Stephanie Leutert of the University of Texas, told PolitiFact more specifically that there are around 1,000 people waiting to cross the bridge where Martínez Ramírez was waiting. 

A few weeks ago the National Migration Institute, which manages the list in Mexico, made the list private. That has prompted stress for migrants, because they can no longer see their place in line.

“That caused a lot of desperation among migrants,” Leutert said.

Fact-checking Julián Castro’s claim that asylum ‘metering’ caused drowning of father, daughter | PolitiFact

mmhmmm

Also, the Obama administration was in no way and in way near as bad as the Trumps. That is in arguable. It is also true that the BHO WH was hardly the paradigm of progressive policy that the Left likes to think of it as. Yes, they were using metering. No, there was no more of a moral, ethical, or practical justification when they were using it than there is now.