at two locations along the U.S. border with Mexico.

These are temporary courtrooms for migrants

who are claiming asylum.

They offer a glimpse into how the Trump administration’s

unprecedented crackdown on immigration

is playing out with judges deciding the fate of hundreds

of asylum seekers via video, and in makeshift facilities.

We pinpointed their locations and satellite imagery

and tracked their expansion over a month.

We can see them here, along the border in Laredo, Tex.

There are several long tents, subdivided

into courts, where 420 asylum hearings are planned each day.

And in Brownsville, Tex.,

another set of tent courthouses.

This one, for more than 700 cases a day.

Judges will handle cases via video.

A top immigration official spoke

recently, praising the technology.

“Spectacular video-conferencing facility, the mechanics

of that will be used for hearings.”

But some advocates have said that this will worsen already

limited due process for asylum seekers.

And a 2017 Justice Department study also

raised additional concerns about video

and the difficulty for judges to analyze

eye contact, nonverbal forms of communication and

body language.

These courtroom tents are part of the so-called

Remain in Mexico policy, which is formally

known as the Migrant Protection Protocols.

It was implemented in January and aimed

at limiting the number of asylum seekers arriving

in the U.S.

“They will have to wait for approval

to come into the United States: If they are granted asylum

by a U.S. judge,

they will be welcomed into America, if they are not,

they will be removed to their home countries.”

Typically, people seeking asylum

were allowed to remain in the United States

while their cases went through courts around the country,

due to the danger

they would face at home.

Putting these tent courts along the border

allows the U.S. to send asylum seekers to Mexico

until it’s time for their hearings.

But this could also put people in harm’s way.

The location of these tent courts

means some asylum seekers will be

forced to await their trials in some

of the most dangerous cities along the border in Mexico.

Brownsville and Laredo border

the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, where the U.S. State Department

has issued a travel advisory to the same degree

as for Syria and Afghanistan.

American citizens are told not to travel here due to crime

and kidnapping, and human rights groups

have documented cases of rape, abduction and murder

of migrants.

Meanwhile, U.S. immigration authorities

are considering additional locations for tent courts.

But by forcing asylum seekers to wait in high-risk areas,

some migrants may never be able to return

for their day in court.