Asylum-seekers line up at border, wait times lengthen

TIJUANA, Mexico — Undaunted by President Donald Trump’s tough talk on immigration, asylum-seekers are forming unusually long lines at the Mexican border, with parents and children sleeping on cardboard in the sweltering heat and waiting for days or even weeks to present themselves to U.S. inspectors.

Wait times of a few hours or longer are not uncommon at the border. But the backlogs that have developed over the past several weeks at crossings in California, Arizona and Texas are rare.

The exact reasons for the bottleneck are unclear. But the U.S. has been seeing a surge in requests for asylum over the past few years.

A top Homeland Security Department official told lawmakers last month that new asylum filings tripled between 2014 and 2017 to nearly 142,000, the highest level in more than 20 years.

The official, Francis Cissna, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the asylum backlog stood at 318,000 cases.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that any waits in Mexico are expected to be temporary.

Some advocates insist the administration has enough resources to avoid the delays and is dragging its feet to discourage people from trying to come across.

The Trump administration has declared a new “zero-tolerance” policy of prosecuting every immigrant arrested for illegal entry, a practice that is separating parents from their children. Asylum-seekers who turn themselves in to border inspectors usually do not face such a fate.