130 on US border, seeking asylum

About 130 Central Americans, mostly women and children, have arrived at the US border with Mexico in a “caravan” of asylum-seeking immigrants that has drawn the fury of President Donald Trump.

Two busloads arrived late Tuesday in the Mexican border city of Tijuana at two migrant shelters just steps from one of the most fortified stretches of border separating the US from Mexico. They joined another 50 or so who arrived in Tijuana over the last week or two.

Four more busloads of about 200 Central Americans—mostly women and children but including some men—were expected to arrive in Tijuana Wednesday, said Alex Mensing, project coordinator for Pueblos Sin Fronteras, which is organizing the effort.

US lawyers planned to lead clinics later this week on US asylum law to tell the immigrants what to expect when they seek asylum. The first groups plan to try to enter the US on Sunday at San Diego’s border crossing.

Trump and senior aides have portrayed the caravans and the asylum seekers as evidence of a dysfunctional border and a serious threat. The president tweeted this week that he has issued orders “not to let these large Caravans of people into our Country. It is a disgrace.”

The caravans have been a fairly common tactic for years among advocacy groups to bring attention to Central American citizens seeking asylum in the US to escape political persecution or criminal threats from gangs.