“Asylum on the border is pretty much impossible,” a legal advocate with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, said. “Covid is being used as an excuse to close the border.”

Auxiliary Bishop Mario Dorsonville, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration: “We are reminded that regardless of our background, we are all built in the image of God and should be treated as such.”

Pompeo visited sites aiding the Venezuelans in northern-most Roraima state, where many refugees have landed. Since 2015, more than 260,000 Venezuelans have crossed the border into Brazil.

Even as the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees pleaded with countries to take in more of the 79.5 million displaced people worldwide, the Trump administration has consistently lowered the refugee cap each year.

The overcrowded, underequipped Camp Moria, had an official capacity for just 2,800. Its population had been as high as 20,000 refugees, a number reduced to about 12,000 at the time of the fires.

The court said the president was within his rights to revoke Temporary Protected Status from Salvadoran immigrants. The ruling also is expected to affect TPS holders from Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Sudan and Nepal.