Last week, the Trump Administration ordered the National Guard to the border in some states to provide extra support to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol during the illegal immigration “high season.” This week, they also announced they’re sending a cadre of immigration attorneys and judges to help process members of a “caravan” of asylum seekers, currently crossing Mexico and inching closer to the southern U.S. border.
According to the Texas Tribune, legal professionals will begin arriving at the border this week. When the migrant caravan finally reaches the border, anyone who crosses illegally “will be referred for prosecution.” Anyone claiming asylum will have their claim processed almost instantly. If their claims are “without merit,” they will be deported back to their country of origin.
“If you enter the United States illegally, let me be clear: you have broken the law. And we will enforce the law through prosecution of illegal border crossers,” the Department of Homeland Security official in charge of the operation told media in a statement. “DHS encourages persons with asylum or other similar claims to seek protections in the first safe country they enter, including Mexico.”
DHS isn’t sure how many migrants — if any — will actually make it to the U.S. border. At one time, the caravan, which happens every year, had more than 1,500 participants. Most of those people trailed off in Mexico. A handful were captured trying to cross the border into California at Tijuana.
On Monday, the president called for Mexico to police its own illegal immigrants, intercept what remains of the caravan, and send it back home.