Breitbart has reported that leaders of the migrant caravan held a press conference on Tuesday demanding that the US speed up the asylum process. NBC Latino reporter Nicole Acevedo tweeted they have written a letter demanding that we stop violating their human rights.

Wow!

Selected members of the #MigrantCaravan penned down a statement saying ‘No queremos RETORNAR a la violencia,’ Spanish for we don’t want to return to the violence. Per my colleague @Annie_Rose23 who has been doing amazing work reporting at the border. More to come on @NBCLatino pic.twitter.com/TSZUliMOwy — Nicole Acevedo (@Nicolemarie_A) November 27, 2018

Most caravan members have told reporters in recent weeks they are coming to the US to seek economic opportunity. Now that the migrants have learned they can’t claim asylum based on economic need, they are saying “they will be killed if they return to their homes.”

Here are several excerpts from their statement:

It has not been easy to leave our countries, to leave part of our family behind, to expose our children and to walk through unknown places in order to have a chance to live in the United States or other countries that can give us an opportunity to work an honest job and offer a better future to our children. We want them to have access to education, healthcare and a life without threats. We were victims of the repression from the U.S. border patrol, they threw tear gas at us various times, the children were affected greatly and we were only walking because we wanted to be seen. We wanted to be recognized as a big group of people who wants to be heard so international laws can protect us as we migrate and seek better lives.

NBC News reports that the migrants claimed several children had died from exposure to the tear gas, but after checking with local authorities, those claims have been found to be unsubstantiated.

The statement also asks for “an end to the arbitrary, manipulative and involuntary deportations” in Mexico and a “formation of a commission by the incoming Mexican government” to negotiate a “permanent solution” for migrants wishing to remain in Mexico. They also asked for “Human Rights” officials to accompany them at detention centers and for the names of all deported migrants to be released publicly.

Here are several tweets from a second NBCLatino reporter on the scene.

They said if they decide to protest again… they will decide to do so together, but they say at this point there are no plans to march. — Gadi Schwartz (@GadiNBC) November 27, 2018

One says he was at the job fair that was set up and heard that in order for people to be deported. They must present themselves to the Groupo Beta, and would be taken to MX city, then Tapachula, then sent back to Honduras. — Gadi Schwartz (@GadiNBC) November 27, 2018

They didn’t come because they are dying of hunger… they came because there is violence in their country and their lives are in danger.

They say there have been many unjust deportations in Mexico and they haven’t been given answers on why these deportations have happened. — Gadi Schwartz (@GadiNBC) November 27, 2018

I certainly understand how miserable they must be, but there is a lawful process that must be followed. These people were warned when they first began their journey that they would not be allowed into the country. President Trump made it very clear that no exceptions to US laws would be granted.

If we allow 5,000 or 7,000 migrants into the country now, there will be thousands more arriving daily. Contrary to Univision reporter Jorge Ramos’ claims, it is not our responsibility to absorb vast numbers of illegal immigrants into our country.

They claim to be victims of our cruel border patrol agents. The US used tear gas on their women and children. And now they demand that we speed up the asylum process so they can jump ahead of individuals who have followed the lawful process for entry into the country. Their accusations that the violence began on the US side and their lies about several children dying because of the actions of US border patrol agents certainly won’t endear them to President Trump.

They are victims of whoever convinced them to join the caravan in the first place.