Asylum rules being tightened

A sleeping Honduran girl is carried Thursday as a group of Central American migrants marches to the office of the United Nations’ humans rights body in Mexico City. The migrants are demanding that buses take them to the U.S. border. crossings, U.S. customs officers have been limiting the number of people allowed to approach the pedestrian entry lanes, a tactic known as “metering” that has triggered challenges in federal court.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials defend the practice on the grounds that the border crossings are not equipped to process hundreds of asylum seekers daily, and officers must continue to facilitate ordinary cross-border travel and trade while protecting the country from terrorists and drug runners.

In recent weeks the wait at some crossings has stretched to several days or more.

Those delays increase the chances that caravan members could attempt to cross illegally.

Meanwhile, the Central American migrants in a caravan that has stopped in Mexico City demanded buses Thursday to take them to the U.S. border, saying it is too cold and dangerous to continue walking and hitchhiking.

Mexico City authorities say that of the 4,841 registered migrants receiving shelter in a sports complex, 1,726 are under the age of 18, including 310 children under five.

“We need buses to continue traveling,” said Milton Benitez, a caravan coordinator. Benitez noted it is colder in northern Mexico and not safe for the migrants to continue along highways, where drug cartels frequently operate.