Just because cable news coverage of the asylum crisis at the border has slowed does not mean it’s gone away.
BuzzFeed’s Adolfo Flores reports that the wait to apply for asylum at the San Ysidro crossing at the California-Mexico border near Tijuana is over 1000 people long which translates into a 3-4 week wait:
At the San Ysidro port of entry the current wait list for asylum seekers is over 1,000, according to lawyers who work with them. A family I spoke with was told they had to wait 3-4 weeks before their number was called. pic.twitter.com/b8B9ez87g7
— Adolfo Flores (@aflores) November 9, 2018
The wait times are expected to get worse in the coming days and weeks:
Nicole Ramos, an attorney with Al Otro Lado, which is suing the US govt over its practice of turning away asylum seekers at ports of entry expects wait times at these entrances will double under the administration’s new plan re asylum seekers at the border.
— Adolfo Flores (@aflores) November 9, 2018
One of the reasons the Obama administration, and now the Trump administration, told this class of migrants not to travel to the U.S. from Central America through Mexico is that they won’t qualify for asylum anyway and it’s unsafe:
It’s not uncommon for asylum seekers waiting in Tijuana for the turn to be targeted by organized crime, Ramos said. Some people receive messages from the people they’re fleeing from telling them they know they’re in TJ saying “we’re waiting for you.”
— Adolfo Flores (@aflores) November 9, 2018
As it is the US has slowed down the number of asylum seekers it can take at the Tijuana port of entry to a trickle, Ramos said.
— Adolfo Flores (@aflores) November 9, 2018
The migrants above are different than the caravan we’ve been hearing about, which is still on its way to California:
Dem TX Rep Cuellar: The caravan with over 6,000 migrants has departed Mexico City en route to Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. This caravan will likely follow the Viacrucis caravan that made its way to the California border in April 2018.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) November 9, 2018
And troops have been sent to the border there:
U.S. troops arrive at San Diego border well ahead of migrant caravan https://t.co/uATWsqp8sJ
— L.A. Times: L.A. Now (@LANow) November 9, 2018
The second caravan is also still on the way:
"The caravan of Salvadoran migrants that left at dawn on October 31 has reached Mexican soil and is on its way to Tapachula. More than 2,000 people covered 447 kilometers in three days," @_ElFaro_ reports. Check out the link below for @victorpena84's photos from the journey. https://t.co/kbUfdEi4PP
— Sandra Cuffe (@Sandra_Cuffe) November 9, 2018
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Related:
ICYMI ==> Wait, WHAT? ‘Group of migrants’ in caravan file lawsuit against Trump, alleging ‘shockingly unconstitutional’ border policies https://t.co/lWAsCB87Jl
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) November 2, 2018
'Bold strategy': Fox News interviews caravan member who's hoping Trump pardons his attempted murder conviction https://t.co/A9JyQhGu29
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) October 29, 2018
‘Do not come’: ZERO ambiguity from DHS on what will happen to the caravan upon reaching the U.S. https://t.co/3awK9qIG9C
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) October 28, 2018
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