The U.S. begins processing 'caravan' asylum-seekers, charges 11 with illegal entry


Late Monday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection began processing the asylum requests of eight members of the "caravan" of Central Americans who traveled up through Mexico, earning the ire of President Trump, after the asylum-seekers spent up to three days waiting outside the San Ysidro border crossing between Tijuana and San Diego. The group that organized the caravan, Pueblo Sin Fronteras, said that the eight people chosen to be first to apply for asylum were two mothers from Honduras and their children, and that 140 more people are waiting to turn themselves in at the San Ysidro crossing.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the caravan's asylum seekers are having to wait so long for processing because the San Ysidro crossing station was at capacity. Volunteer U.S. lawyers warned the caravan members in Tijuana that they may be detained for months and parents may be separated from their children, but the migrants were not deterred.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department charged 11 people believed to be from the caravan with illegally entering the U.S. According to the complaints, filed Monday, the two Salvadorans, six Hondurans, two Guatemalans, and one Mexican were picked up on the U.S. side of the border about 4 miles to the west of the San Ysidro port. They will be charged with misdemeanors and one, who allegedly had entered the U.S. before, also faces a felony charge. The charges are apparently a first salvo in Attorney General Jeff Sessions' new crackdown on people entering the U.S. illegally.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Under international law, the U.S. must accept and process the asylum requests of anyone who seeks such protections at a port of entry. The success rate isn't high, though — nearly 80 percent of asylum-seekers passed their initial screening last fall, The Associated Press says, but from 2012 to 2017, more than three-quarters of Hondurans, Guatemalans, and Salvadorans had their U.S. asylum requests rejected.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Book reviews: ‘Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America’ and ‘How to End a Story: Collected Diaries, 1978–1998’
Feature A political ‘witch hunt’ and Helen Garner’s journal entries
By The Week US Published
-
The backlash against ChatGPT's Studio Ghibli filter
The Explainer The studio's charming style has become part of a nebulous social media trend
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Why are student loan borrowers falling behind on payments?
Today's Big Question Delinquencies surge as the Trump administration upends the program
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
WHCA rejects White House press seating grab
Speed Read The White House Correspondents' Association objected to the Trump administration's bid to control where journalists sit during press briefings
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump sends more migrants to El Salvador jail
Speed Read Another 17 Venezuelan alleged gang members have been deported to a notorious prison
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Venezuelan deportees: Locked up for tattoos?
Feature A former pro soccer player was deported after U.S. authorities claimed his tattoo proved he belonged to a Venezuelan gang
By The Week US Published
-
Trump 'not joking' about unconstitutional 3rd term
Speed Read The president seems to be serious about seeking a third term in 2028
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'We should end this betrayal of man's best friend'
Instant Opinion 'Opinion, comment and editorials of the day'
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
What is Starmer's £33m plan to smash 'vile' Channel migration gangs?
Today's Big Question PM lays out plan to tackle migration gangs like international terrorism, with cooperation across countries and enhanced police powers
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff Published
-
Supreme Court upholds 'ghost gun' restrictions
Speed Read Ghost guns can be regulated like other firearms
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published