By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) - Advocacy groups say the Trump administration played "bait and switch" by telling migrants to wait in Mexico to apply for asylum before imposing sharp restrictions on their eligibility.

The Southern Poverty Law Center and other groups asked a judge Thursday to prohibit the government from applying the new restrictions to anyone who appeared at an official border crossing to claim asylum before the policy was announced July 16.

The restrictions deny asylum to anyone who reached the U.S. after traveling through another country and failing to seek asylum there.

U.S. officials have repeatedly said the right way to seek asylum is to apply at border crossings, instead of entering illegally and asking for it after being detained by immigration authorities.

The Justice Department declined to comment on Thursday's filing in a federal lawsuit in San Diego.

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