Caravan at border
Over 150 Central Americans seeking asylum have journeyed to the U.S. border near San Diego but have been told their claim could not be processed.
TIJUANA, Mexico — A long, arduous journey gave way to what could be a long, uncertain asylum process Sunday as a caravan of immigrants finally reached the border between the United States and Mexico, setting up a dramatic moment and a test of President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant politics.
More than 150 migrants, part of a caravan that once numbered about 1,200 and headed north in March from Mexico’s border with Guatemala, were prepared to seek asylum from U.S. immigration officials.
But in what was likely to be one of many curves on the road, the migrants were told Sunday afternoon that the immigration officials could not process their claims, and they would have to spend the night on the Mexican side of the border.
Despite the announcement, about 50 people walked across a bridge and approached the port facility, but were not immediately accommodated by U.S. officials. They were being permitted to wait in passageways until room became available, and appeared prepared to wait overnight, according to Pueblos Sin Fronteras, an organization assisting the asylum seekers.
It was only the latest twist in an immigration drama that has played out in relative obscurity in recent years. During the Easter season, immigrants have headed north together as a form of protection against the kidnappers, muggers and rapists who stalk the migrant trail, and to draw attention to their plight. But this year it has become a volatile flashpoint in the immigration debate ignited by Trump.
For the migrants, it was a fraught, deeply personal moment.
Mario Quintanillo, 30, and Cecilia Sarai Carillo, 23, who are from El Salvador, were among four couples who wed at the beach on Sunday morning, in the company of their 2-year-old daughter, Daryeline Ariana.
They planned to apply for asylum at the U.S. border, but knew there was a good chance that they would be split up during the process — possibly for months.
“But I’m going with the feeling that it’s going to be worth the effort,” said Quintanillo. He said his family were fleeing a gang that had attacked him and killed a close relative. “In the name of God, everything is possible,” he said.
Overlaying the personal struggles was a dense tangle of politics and policy — the acrimony between Trump and Gov. Jerry Brown of California over immigration; the politics of sanctuary cities; the ill will between Trump and Mexico that began the day he announced his candidacy; and the political logjam in Congress over funding Trump’s proposed border wall.
It all plays out in the context of Trump’s goal of making immigration a galvanizing issue in the midterm elections with Republicans worried about losing control of the House and perhaps the Senate.
It is a debate Trump apparently relishes.
With the migrants on the doorstep of the U.S., Trump, in a tweet last week, ratcheted up his rhetoric, vowing “not to let these large Caravans of people into our Country.”
Joined by supporters and dozens of members of the media, the migrants gathered in a park on the Pacific Ocean about 10 a.m. local time and then later in front of a community center in downtown Tijuana. Scores of supporters, some of whom had walked from as far as Los Angeles, rallied Sunday morning just north of the fence separating the United States from Mexico.