The Latest Lawyer for migrant caravan US failed to prepare

The Latest Lawyer for migrant caravan US failed to prepare

The Latest on a caravan of Central Americans seeking asylum in the United States (all times local):

3:25 p.m.

An attorney working for a caravan of Central Americans has expressed disbelief that U.S. authorities say they cannot process more asylum seekers at the San Diego border crossing until its backlog eases.

Lawyer Nicole Ramos said at a news conference that U.S. Customs and Border Protection knew the migrants were going to arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border Sunday and failed to prepare with sufficient agents and resources.

Despite the news, about 200 people who planned to turn themselves in and seek asylum still started walking toward San Diego’s San Ysidro crossing.

U.S. officials have said the nation’s busiest border crossing can hold about 300 people at a time.

The caravan got attention after President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet called it a threat to the United States.

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2:50 p.m.

U.S. officials say San Diego’s border crossing has reached capacity even before a caravan of Central American migrants criticized by the Trump administration began turning themselves in to seek asylum.

A statement Sunday from U.S. Customs and Border Protection says the nation’s busiest border crossing can take in additional people as space and resources become available.

Nearly 200 Central Americans who have spent a month traveling in a caravan through Mexico planned to seek asylum Sunday.

The caravan got attention after President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet called it a threat to the U.S.

Officials had warned that San Diego’s San Ysidro crossing may not be able to take asylum seekers if it faces too many at once. The agency has said the port can hold about 300 people temporarily.

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1:40 p.m.

Organizers say nearly 200 Central American migrants who traveled in a caravan of asylum seekers to the U.S.-Mexico border have decided to turn themselves in to U.S. authorities.

Bliss Requa-Trautz of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network says they’re getting a final briefing Sunday before heading to the San Diego border crossing to seek asylum.

If border inspectors say they don’t have staff and space to accommodate that many people at once, organizers say they’ll put women with children and children traveling alone at the front of the line. The rest will stay in Mexico and try another day.

Heather Crone of advocacy group Show Up for Racial Justice says she’s found 80 people across the U.S. who agreed to sponsor caravan members if they’re released while their petitions are pending.

Asylum seekers are often released to family in the U.S. but some don’t have any and seek sponsors.

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1:30 p.m.

Central Americans in a caravan of asylum seekers that traveled through Mexico to the border with San Diego are receiving final information before they turn themselves in to U.S. authorities.

Caravan organizers gave the migrants a final briefing Sunday that was closed to the media before they head to the nation’s busiest border crossing to seek asylum.

President Donald Trump has been tracking the caravan, calling it a threat to the U.S.

Wendi Yaneri Garcia says she’s confident she’ll be released while her asylum case is pending because she’s traveling alone with a 2-year-old son who’s been sick.

The 36-year-old said police in her hometown of Atlantida, Honduras, jailed her for protesting construction of a hydroelectric plant. She says she received death threats after being released.

She says she just wants to work and raise her son and was excited to try her luck in the U.S.

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12:05 p.m.

Central Americans in a caravan of asylum seekers that traveled through Mexico to the border with San Diego have left a cross-border rally as they prepare to turn themselves in to U.S. authorities.

Hundreds of migrants in five old school buses planned to eat lunch Sunday before making a roughly 15-minute walk to San Diego’s San Ysidro border crossing, the nation’s busiest. Many are fleeing violence in their home countries and will ask the U.S. for asylum.