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Migrant caravan warned asylum may lead to separation from children

Posted at 11:39 PM, Apr 27, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-28 02:39:57-04

(KGTV) -- The caravan of migrants from Central America is expected to arrive at the port of San Ysidro Sunday morning. When they arrive at the border, they'll tell officials they're seeking asylum because of violence in their home countries.

RELATED: Hundreds of migrants reach Tijuana, manyplanto continue to San Diego border

About 300 migrants arrived in Tijuana on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Friday they met with lawyers to learn more about what happens if they come into the United States seeking asylum.

President Trump instructed the secretary of homeland security not to let them in. But, if they do make it to the U.S., the mostly female migrants were warned that they could face long separations from their children. 

10News asked ICE about what happens if the mothers and children make it across? In a statement ICE said: 

“If they are with their parents we try to keep them all together at one of our family residential facilities. Unaccompanied minors are turned over to the health and human services department to the office of refugee resettlement.”

Mothers here worry about a separation though — and with good reason. According to a New York Times article published Friday, federal agencies lost track of roughly 1,500 migrant children placed with sponsors.

One mother said it’s worth the risk because it’s better than being killed in her home country.

It will ultimately be up to the U.S. courts to decide if the migrants get asylum or deportation. We don’t yet know where they will be housed.