About 200 Central American asylum seekers are waiting for a second day to turn themselves in to border inspectors after U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said San Diego’s San Ysidro border crossing facility had “reached capacity.”
U.S. border officials issued a statement on Monday saying they did not have an estimate when the San Diego crossing would be accepting new asylum applications.
The caravan of asylum seekers, fleeing gangs, violence, political persecution and at one time numbering over 1,000 people, left Mexico’s border with Guatemala on March 25.
The number of migrants dwindled to around 200 by the time they arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Following reports of the asylum seeking “caravan” on Fox News, President Trump and the administration began directing more attention to immigration, a border wall and deploying the National Guard.