Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 3 May 2018
Migrants in caravan criticized by Trump start seeking asylum

By ELLIOT SPAGAT threatened criminal pros-
Associated Press ecution. On Monday, the
TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — Justice Department said it
U.S. border inspectors al- filed illegal entry charges
lowed in the first wave of against 11 people identi-
Central American asylum- fied as caravan members.
seekers to enter the coun- Asylum-seekers didn't ap-
try for processing Monday pear to be thrown off the
after a temporary impasse by the delay.
over lack of space to ac- Elin Orrellana, a 23-year-old
commodate them. pregnant woman from El
U.S. Customs and Border Salvador, said she is flee-
Protection said it processed ing the violent MS-13 street
hundreds of asylum-seekers gang, a favorite target of
in the previous week, many both Sessions and Trump
of them Mexican, which because of their brutal kill-
contributed to a bottle- ings in communities in the
neck that led inspectors to United States. She said her
turn away caravan mem- older sister had been killed
bers when they arrived by the gang in El Salvador,
late Sunday afternoon. so she is attempting to join
The agency didn't say how other family members in
many caravan members the Kansas City area.
were allowed in, but orga- "Fighting on is worth it," she
nizers said there were eight. said as she camped out
About 140 others were still Sunday for chilly night out-
waiting in Mexico to turn A migrant father and child, who traveled with the annual caravan of Central American migrants, side the border crossing.
themselves in at San Di- rest where they set up camp to wait for access to request asylum in the US, outside the El Chapar- Customs and Border Pro-
ego's San Ysidro border ral port of entry building at the US-Mexico border in Tijuana, Mexico, Monday, April 30, 2018. tection has room for about
crossing, the nation's busi- Associated Press 300 people at the San Di-
est, said Alex Mensing, proj- ego border crossing.
ect organizer for Pueblo Sin asylum cases are pending. few are likely to win asylum. people seeking asylum to "As in the past when we've
Fronteras, which is leading Asylum-seekers are typi- The denial rate for El Sal- be freed while their cases had to limit the number of
the caravan. cally held up to three days vadorans seeking asylum are adjudicated. people we can bring in for
"The spirits are high, there at the border and turned was 79 percent from 2012 Vice President Mike Pence, processing at a given time,
was good news for every- over to U.S. Immigration to 2017, according to Syr- on a California border tour we expect that this will be
body," Mensing said on the and Customs Enforcement. acuse University's Trans- Monday, said the caravan a temporary situation," the
Mexican side of the cross- If they pass an asylum of- actional Records Action was "a direct result of our agency said.
ing, moments after learning ficer's initial screening, Clearinghouse. Hondurans weak immigration laws and During a surge of Haitian
that some were allowed in. they may be detained or were close behind with a our porous border" and a arrivals at the San Diego
The Central Americans al- released with ankle moni- 78 percent denial rate, fol- "deliberate attempt to un- crossing in 2016, Customs
lowed in after the month- tors while their cases wind lowed by Guatemalans at dermine the laws of this and Border Protection re-
long journey across Mexico through immigration court, 75 percent. country and the sovereign- quired people to wait more
may face a longer journey which can take years. Trump administration of- ty of the United States." than five weeks in Mexico.
ahead. Some parents may Nearly 80 percent of asy- ficials have railed against Attorney General Jeff Ses- Since then, smaller upticks
be separated from their lum-seekers passed the ini- what they call "legal loop- sions has pledged to send of Mexican asylum-seekers
children and be detained tial screening from October holes" and "catch-and- more immigration judges to have caused delays of sev-
for many months while their through December, but release" policies that allow the border if needed and eral hours.q

Fire sends thick smoke over

Mexico's Juarez and into U.S.

ernment said via Twitter inside, shut windows and He added that authorities
that the fire was reported doors and not use air con- were investigating whether
at 2:30 a.m. on a 911 call. ditioners. the recycler has been op-
Mayor Armando Cabada Firefighters sprayed water erating with the proper per-
said via Facebook that on burning piles, but Juarez mits.
there were no injuries, but civil defense chief Efren "We are tracking down the
he added the blaze was Matamoros described as owner of the lot, the owner
creating "environmental highly flammable, com- of that recycling plant, to

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a recycling plant on the damage" with winds carry- pacted bales of plastic, press charges because it is
outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Wednesday, May 2, 2018. ing the smoke northward. cardboard and other ma- causing severe damage to
Juarez authorities declared terial. our environment," Cabada
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A fire of heavy black smoke bil- an environmental emer- "When these bales catch said. "Regrettably, the wind
broke out at a recycling lowing across the border gency due to harmful fire, it is impossible to extin- today has a south-to-north
plant on the outskirts of city and into neighboring El particulate matter in the guish them until they con- direction, and it's con-
Ciudad Juarez on Wednes- Paso, Texas. smoke, and people in its sume themselves," Cabada taminating practically the
day, sending thick clouds The Juarez municipal gov- path were advised to stay said. whole city."q