Border Impasse Over Migrant Caravan Ends

At least 8 were allowed to enter US
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 1, 2018 4:33 AM CDT
Feds Process First Asylum-Seekers From 'Caravan'
A two-year-old child from Honduras gets treatment for an ear infection after sleeping in the open in front of the El Chaparral port of entry, in Tijuana, Mexico, Monday, April 30, 2018.   (AP Photo/Hans-Maximo Musielik)

US border inspectors have allowed some of the Central American asylum-seekers from a "caravan of migrants" criticized by President Trump to enter the country for processing, ending a brief impasse over lack of space. Now, the migrants who crossed Mexico in a caravan may face a long legal path. US Customs and Border Protection didn't say how many caravan members were allowed in Monday, but organizers said there were eight, the AP reports. About 140 others were still waiting in Mexico to turn themselves in at San Diego's San Ysidro border crossing, the nation's busiest, said Alex Mensing, project organizer for Pueblo Sin Fronteras, which is leading the caravan.

"The spirits are high, there was good news for everybody," Mensing said moments after learning that some were allowed in. American attorneys who volunteered advice in Tijuana last week warned the Central Americans that parents may be separated from their children and be detained for many months while their asylum cases are pending. Asylum-seekers are typically held up to three days at the border and turned over to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. If they pass initial screening, they may be detained or released with ankle monitors while their cases wind through immigration court, which can take years. Trump tweeted Monday that the case "shows how weak & ineffective US immigration laws are."

(More immigration stories.)

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