CARAVAN ARRESTS
11 migrants busted for crossing US border
Federal authorities on Monday arrested 11 members of a Central American caravan for illegally crossing into the United States, according to reports.
Two Salvadorans, six Hondurans and three Guatemalans were charged with illegal entry, lawenforcement officials told Fox News and CNN. Ten were hit with misdemeanor charges and one will face a felony, the networks reported.
Many of the suspects were reportedly seen in a California desert area called Goat Canyon, about four miles west of the San Ysidro Port of Entry, where the majority of the caravan travelers is now waiting.
Other suspects were also spotted having illegally crossed at a point called W-8, about two miles west of San Ysidro, according to CNN.
The caravan of asylum-seekers has been on the road for a month as they seek refuge from violence and political retribution in their homelands.
“We’re asking for [federal authorities] to be fair,” Irma Rivera, 31, from Honduras, told The Washington Post. “You don’t leave your country because you want to. The violence makes you leave.
“My life is at risk and so are the lives of my children,” she added.
President Trump and federal authorities said they’re keeping a close eye on the caravan to make sure that no laws are broken.
“The migrant ‘caravan’ that is openly defying our border shows how weak & ineffective U.S. immigration laws are,” Trump posted on Twitter on Monday.
The president used the caravan story to take a seemingly gratuitous shot at Sen. Jon Tester. Trump has had Tester in his cross hairs ever since the Montana Democrat helped sink the White House’s nomination of Ronnie Jackson for Veterans Affairs secretary.
“Yet Democrats like Jon Tester continue to support the open borders agenda — Tester even voted to protect Sanctuary Cities,” Trump added in the same tweet. “We need lawmakers who will put America First.”
Vice President Mike Pence visited a different California-Mexico border crossing Monday and echoed the president’s tough words against illegal immigration.
“This [caravan] is the direct result of our weak immigration laws,” Pence said at the El Centro Border Patrol Station, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
He added of the caravan: “These people are victims. They’re being exploited by open-border political activists.”
The vice president reiterated the White House pledge to build a wall along the entire US-Mexico border, saying, “When it comes to the border wall, we’re going to build it all.”