Dreaded migrant ‘caravan’ arrives

UNITED States Vice-President Mike Pence blasted weak and ineffective immigration laws during a trip to the border with Mexico, as a caravan of immigrants two hours to the west prepared to claim asylum in America.

Pence’s remarks came as he toured a construction site for a barrier in the Californian border town of Calexico, 200km east of the San Diego-Tijuana crossing where the group of at least 150 people have amassed.

“I stand before you today when most of the attention of the nation has been focused on the so-called caravan,” Pence said.

“As the president said on Saturday night, this situation is a direct result of our weak immigration laws and our porous border.”

The visit came after the Central American migrants arrived in the border town of Tijuana on Sunday, part of a caravan of more than 1 000 people who set out from southern Mexico in late March.

Pence described them as victims of activists, smugglers and the media and called on Congress to close dangerous loopholes allowing people to claim asylum in the US rather than the first safe country they enter.

Eight members of the caravan crossed into the US on Monday, where immigration authorities had launched the process determining whether their asylum claims would grant them entry.

The Department of Justice meanwhile announced late on Monday it had filed criminal charges against 11 suspected members of the so-called caravan, accusing them of illegally entering the United States.

The department said one of those charged had allegedly already been deported once.

“When respect for the rule of law diminishes, so too does our ability to protect our great nation,” Attorney-General Jeff Sessions said.

Media coverage of the US-bound caravan has triggered a flurry of furious tweets from Trump, who ordered thousands of National Guard troops to the border and called on Mexico to stop the migrants.