SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal judge on Friday denied a bid by immigration advocates to prohibit U.S. officials from turning away asylum-seekers at border crossings with Mexico if they don't have appointments on a mobile phone app. More than 263,000 people scheduled appointments on the CBP One app from when it was introduced in January through August, including 45,400 who were processed in August. The app has been criticized on the right as too permissive and on the left as too restrictive. Turning back people without appointments violates agency policy and leaves them ”stranded in dangerous Mexican border towns, vulnerable to kidnapping, assault, rape, and murder," they said. Political Cartoons View All 1211 ImagesThe Justice Department insisted there is no policy of turning back asylum-seekers.

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Persons: Biden, Al Otro Lado, Andrew Schopler, Joe Biden, Melissa Crow, Katherine Shinners Organizations: DIEGO, —, CBP, Venezuelan, Haitian Bridge Alliance, U.S, District, Supreme, Center, Gender & Refugee Studies, Justice Department Locations: Mexico, United States, Mexican, San Diego, U.S, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Texas, States