The incident happened just hours after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a change to the asylum policy, which would see domestic and gang violence no longer serving as grounds for being granted sanctuary in the US.

“Generally, claims by aliens pertaining to domestic violence or gang violence perpetrated by non-governmental actors will not qualify for asylum,” Sessions wrote in his ruling on Monday. “The mere fact that a country may have problems effectively policing certain crimes — such as domestic violence or gang violence — or that certain populations are more likely to be victims of crime, cannot itself establish an asylum claim.”

The decision involved a case of a victim of domestic violence from El Salvador. The AG’s ruling serves as a binding precedent for immigration judges.

Migrants from Central America have been bypassing the Trump administration’s efforts to stop illegal crossings on the southern border by laying claim to asylum based on “credible fear” of returning to their home countries, often citing domestic abuse or violence by gangs such as MS-13.