US says crossing is full before caravan tries to seek asylum

A group of Central Americans who journeyed in a caravan to the US border resolved to turn themselves in and ask for asylum today in a direct challenge to the Trump administration only to have US immigration officials announce that the San Diego crossing was already at capacity.

Nearly 200 migrants, many travelling with children, had decided to apply for protection at the nation's busiest border crossing after many fled violence in their home countries, organisers said. The caravan got attention after President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet called it a threat to the United States.

Shortly before the migrants were expected to arrive, US Customs and Border Protection said San Diego's San Ysidro crossing would not immediately be able to handle more asylum seekers. It can hold about 300 people at a time, and officials had been warning that it might fill up.

"At this time, we have reached capacity at the San Ysidro port of entry for CBP officers to be able to bring additional persons travelling without appropriate entry documentation into the port of entry for processing," Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said in a statement.

"Those individuals may need to wait in Mexico as CBP officers work to process those already within our facilities."
The Trump administration has been tracking the caravan since it started in Mexico on March 25 near the Guatemala border. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has called the caravan "a deliberate attempt to undermine our laws and overwhelm our system."