Central American Caravan Migrants Seek Asylum At Border

SAN YSIDRO, CA -- About 300 people traveling in a migrant caravan from Central America Sunday planned to turn themselves over to US Border Patrol agents at the San Ysidro port of entry and seek asylum in the United States.

Six miles west of that, a crowd of about 300 refugees milled about at Playas de Tijuana, on the Mexican side of the fence near its terminus at the Pacific Ocean. North of the fence, another 50 supporters milled about in Friendship Park, at the southern end of the United States' Pacific coast.

Some supporters of the caravan scaled the border fence, apparently clamoring up from the Mexican side, although no one attempted to cross north into the United States.

A group of 200 or so men, but mostly women and children, began arriving in Tijuana on Tuesday, NBC San Diego reported. The citizens of countries in Central America and their organizers , a group called Pueblo Sin Fronteras, told the Los Angeles Times that the migrants are asylum-seekers fleeing from dangers in their home countries.

The Times reported that "no more than 200 of the group will go to the Tijuana-San Diego crossing and request U.S. protection."

Over the weekend, they've been engaging in legal orientation sessions to understand their rights and what to expect at the U.S. entrance, the Times reported.

In San Diego on Saturday, a group of demonstrators marched from Balboa Park to Chicano Park.

The caravan has been making national headlines for the past month after catching the attention of President Donald Trump. It first began with about 1,000 people March 25 in the Mexican city of Tapachula, near the Guatemala border, drawing comments from Trump as evidence of what he and his aides portrayed as a significant threat, the Post reported.

Customs and Border Protection officials said on Saturday that some of the migrants in the caravan had tried to climb over the border fence on either side of the San Ysidro Port of Entry since Friday. Young children -- and in one case, a pregnant woman -- were detected among people trying to enter the U.S. through "a dark, treacherous canyon that is notorious for human and drug smuggling," CBP Chief Patrol Agent Rodney S. Scott said

Scott said it was "unconscionable" that children were being smuggled into the country in what he referred to as dangerous conditions.

In the statement, he warned the remaining caravan members to follow the law.

"If anyone has encouraged you to illegally enter the United States, or make any false statements to U.S. government officials, they are giving you bad advice and they are placing you and your family at risk," he said.

"We are a very welcoming country but just like your own house, we expect everyone to enter through our front door and answer questions honestly. On a national level that front door is the Ports of Entry. If you enter the United States at any place other than a Port of Entry it is a crime."

--City News Service

Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection security cameras scan license plates as motor vehicles cross the U.S.-Mexico border from Tijuana, Mexico on September 23, 2016 in San Ysidro, California. More than 10,000 people legally cross the border at San Ysidro daily, making it the busiest port of entry on the 2,000 mile border between the United States and Mexico. Securing the border and controlling illegal immigration have become a key issue in the U.S. Presidential campaign. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)