
Dozens of Central American migrants scaled the border fence between Mexico and the US on Sunday, only to be arrested by US Border Patrol guards.

The migrants, who walked thousands of miles to the border as part of a caravan, said they now plan to claim political asylum - fearing violence because of their beliefs if they return home.

The courts have an obligation to hear all asylum cases no matter whether people entered the country illegally or not, after President Trump's executive order looking to block the practice was deemed illegal.

Dozens of migrants jumped across the US border from Mexico on Sunday before being arrested by Border Patrol agents and now plan to claim political asylum

Many of those jumping across the fence appeared to be families, with young children hoisted up and over the barrier near Tijuana, where thousands of Central American migrants are camped

President Trump had tried to block people crossing the border illegally from claiming asylum but a judge ruled it was illegal so all asylum cases must be heard before a court until the matter is decided

Honduran migrants are passed over a low point in the border wall on Sunday evening before being arrested

These migrants have traveled thousands of miles, much of it on foot, in order to get to the US border and had been living in a squalid shelter in Tijuana until deciding to cross

mmigrants pass through a breach in the U.S.-Mexico border fence, which was later repaired by border patrol agents

Trump issued a proclamation on November 9 stating that any asylum seekers had to come through a legal port of entry to get into the United States, and their cases would not be heard otherwise.

But a little over a week later, a judge in San Francisco ruled the order could not stand because it marked an 'extreme departure' from prior practice.

The judge placed a restraining order on the executive order until later this month, when another court hearing will decide the outcome.

Meanwhile conditions for migrants camped on the Mexican side of the border improved slightly after a previous shelter housing 6,000 of them flooded.

Torrential rains on Thursday reduced the previous shelter, inside an old sports complex, to a 'smelly, muddy mess' with medics warning that an outbreak of disease was 'a matter of when, not if'.

Migrants fled the shelter and set up tents along Tijuana's streets before new accommodation was found in a disused concert venue further from the border.

Streams of migrants laden with heavy backpacks, tents and blankets - much of it soaking wet - were loaded into buses before being taken to the new site.

Border Patrol agents take immigrants into custody after they climbed over the main US-Mexico border fence near Tijuana

A migrant woman who squeezed through a gap in the border fence is arrested by a Border Patrol agent on the American side

A group of migrants, largely made up of women and children, are taken into custody by Border Patrol agents in America

A group of migrants trying to cross over to US side from Mexico, between the border fences, are caught by US Border Patrol

A Honduran family are pictured on the American side of the border, moments before being arrested after crossing illegally

A Honduran boy, who has trekked thousands of miles to reach America with his family, cries as he is arrested in the US

A woman who has crossed on to the American side of the border kisses a man on the Mexican side before she is arrested

Water, milk and diapers for children were passed out among the crowds as they arrived.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, Mexico's leftist president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took the oath of office while pledging to welcome more migrants into Mexico.

In speeches during the election, he promised migrants work visas and jobs building a major train line.

Tour operators and medical and dental offices in the Mexican border city of Tijuana are reporting a slowdown in business since a caravan of Central American migrants arrived.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports Sunday that tourists and visitors have been cancelling planned trips to the Mexican state of Baja California since the border crossing shut down briefly a week ago after some migrants tried to rush across.

Tourism-friendly business owners say visitors fear getting trapped in Mexico should the crossing close again.

Antonio Gamboa, who owns a well-known food truck park, says business has slumped 30 per cent.

Mexican authorities began moving Central American migrants out of an overcrowded shelter near the U.S. border on Friday and taking them to a former concert venue further from the crossing.

Conditions for those who remained in Mexico improved over the weekend when they were given a new shelter in a disused concert venue (pictured) after their old one flooded

Heavy rains forced migrants out of their old shelter, inside a sports complex, before buses took thousands of them to a new shelter further away from the border

Migrants listen at a Christian service at the new shelter in the eastern part of Tijuana, before donated food is handed out

Tents are set up in a new shelter on December 2, 2018, in an area known as El Barretal in Tijuana