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Asylum-seekers who arrive at the southern border and claim to be LGBT are exempt from the U.S.-Mexico “Remain in Mexico” policy and will not be returned to Mexico to await decisions by U.S. immigration judges, several U.S. border officials told the Washington Examiner.

“Mexican immigration is not taking anybody back into Mexico under the MPP [Migration Protection Protocols] program that’s identifying as part of the LGBT community. If they say they’re gay or bisexual, any of those, Mexico won’t take them back,” one official said.

Rank-and-file officers working at ports of entry as well as agents who process asylum-seekers who have illegally crossed from Mexico and are to be returned south of the border are well aware asylum-seekers who identify as LGBT are not eligible for the program, according to three senior U.S. Customs and Border Protection and National Border Patrol Council officials.

The first official suggested the department has kept it hush-hush out of fear non-LGBT people would attempt to exploit the loophole to gain immediate entry because “there is no standard — no way to prove” a person’s claim is true or false.

“They really don’t want that to get out. And I would imagine the Mexican government doesn’t want that to get out either,” the first official said. “As soon as everybody has figured out to say, ‘I am gay,’ then I would imagine that that dirty little secret would be used.”

A senior border official said there was no known written proof of the exemption and suggested it was intentionally withheld from documents so that the public did not learn about it. The official said the U.S. implemented the policy not because Mexico did not want to accept LGBT people but because that population would be at greater risk of personal harm if forced to remain in the country.

“If the policy exists, it would make sense. The MPP is and will undergo a number of legal challenges, and if we return individuals whom we know are vulnerable to Mexico and they are harmed, the MPP will face more court challenges which could be harmful to the program. Again, nothing confirmed, and I’m not aware of any such cases, but the rumor is making the rounds,” a senior border official shared with the Washington Examiner Monday evening.

The official public three-page description of MPP by Homeland Security makes no mention of this specific exempted class or any other group that is not allowed to return south of the border. Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.

A separate internal list of exempted classes provided to the Washington Examiner outlines more than a handful of exempted people Mexico will not take back, but does not mention people who are LGBT.

“Aliens in the following categories are NOT amenable to the MPP: UACs [Unaccompanied Alien Children]; Mexican Citizens/Nationals; Aliens processed for ERs [Expedited Removals]; Aliens in special circumstances such as known physical (including pregnancy) or mental health issues; criminals/history of violence; or Government of Mexico or U.S. Government interest; or Other aliens at the discretion of the CPA [Chief Patrol Agent],” the document states.

Mexico also will not receive back any person with a medical issue.

Up until December, existing policy mandated any person who arrived at a port of entry and passed a credible fear screening for asylum could stay in the U.S. while his or her claim made its way through the legal system and was eventually decided by a federal immigration judge, which can take two to five years.

As illegal crossings at the southern border increased each month through late 2018, the Trump administration worked with Mexico to find a way to prevent people from being allowed into the country while their claims were considered.

Six months ago, both countries announced the MPP, which would require migrants who make a claim at select ports of entry, or border crossings, to return to Mexico until their asylum adjudication date.

The program was aimed at Central Americans, who comprised 90% of those apprehended at the border in fiscal 2019.