
Members of the Central American immigrant caravan cheered at the Mexico border as eight of their own crossed into the United States and were allowed to apply for asylum.

About 150 migrants chanted 'Sí se pudo! [Yes we could!]' after a day spent at the San Ysidro border crossing, following a month-long journey as part of an annual caravan from the Mexico-Guatemala border to the U.S.

Three mothers, four of their kids, and an 18-year-old man were allowed to request asylum into the country on Monday.

The same day the Department of Justice also filed 11 complaints against two Salvadorans, six Hondurans, and three Guatemalans who they say are members of the caravan and entered the country illegally, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced.

'Sí se pudo!' Members of the Central American immigrant caravan celebrated as eight of their own were allowed to enter the U.S. and request asylum on Monday

Three mothers, four of their kids, and an 18-year-old man were allowed to request asylum in the United States

But also on Monday the the Department of Justice also filed 11 complaints against 11 migrants who they say are members of the caravan and entered the country illegally

A man climbs up the border fence between Mexico and the U.S. in a demonstration on Sunday

While 10 of them face a misdemeanor charge for entering the U.S. illegally, one is accused of entering the country after being being previously deported.

An organizer of the caravan told CNN they would stay at the immigration processing center until 'every last one' of the migrants was let into the U.S.

The group of mostly Honduran men, women and children have spent the last month crossing Mexico on foot, by bus and on top of trains.

All the while, President Donald Trump has derided their efforts on Twitter - saying they're taking advantage of the country's lax immigration laws and must be stopped.

However, international treaties signed by the U.S. dictate the government must allow migrants to apply for asylum.

An organizer of the caravan said the migrants would stay at the immigration processing center until 'every last one' of them was let into the U.S

President Donald Trump has derided their efforts on Twitter - saying they're taking advantage of the country's lax immigration laws (People hand out presents to the children in the caravan)

Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the U.S.-Mexico border on Monday, calling the caravan of migrants 'victims'

Vice President of the United States Mike Pence (center left) visits the border with Mexico where he supervised the placement of a new stretch of fence in Mexicali, Mexico

US workers put a new fence as they are guarded by US Police as activists of the organization Angeles sin Fronteras protest in the city of Mexicali

Members of a caravan of migrants from Central America walk towards the United States border and customs facility, where they are expected to apply for asylum

Vice President Pence was sympathetic to the group when he spoke in Imperial, California Monday afternoon - about 90 miles east of San Ysidro.

'These people are victims. They're being exploited by open-border political activists and an agenda-driven media.

'Men and women and children like those gathered at the border today are exploited by human smugglers, criminal and drug cartels who seize on their hardship and difficulties to undermine our laws and profit for themselves,' Pence said.

While the caravan started out with more than 1,000 members, the group that reached the border this weekend was much smaller - about 350. An even smaller amount are deciding to petition for asylum in the U.S. - about 200.

When they arrived at the San Ysidro border crossing on Sunday, the group was told that the border was at capacity and they would not be able to make their cases. The group was told the same thing again on Monday.

For a second straight day, customs officials said the San Ysidro border crossing was at capacity. Above, caravan children pass the time on Monday while waiting for U.S. officials to review their asylum cases

Seven-year-old Jose from El Salvador smiles after waking up near the San Ysidro check-point Monday morning

A group of about 200 slept outside the border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico overnight

The group has gotten smaller as some members have petitioned for asylum in Mexico, while others are crossing into the U.S. illegally.

On Saturday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a statement saying that in the past 24 hours 'several groups of people associated with the Central American Caravan have illegally entered the U.S. without immigration documents by climbing over the dilapidated scrap metal border fence on either side of the San Ysidro Port of Entry'.

'In several of these incidents, children as young as four years old, and in one case a pregnant female, were detected entering the United States illegally through a dark, treacherous canyon that is notorious for human and drug trafficking,' the statement added.

Another 50 asylum seekers were allowed past a gate controlled by Mexican officials Sunday to cross a long bridge but were stopped at the entrance to the U.S. inspection facility at the other end. They waited outside the building, technically on Mexican soil, without word of when U.S. officials would let them try to claim asylum. They spent the night camping on blankets and backpacks.

The group of migrants has spent the last month traversing Mexico by foot, bus and train. A child sleeps outside the border Monday morning, wearing a winter coat

The crowd grew on Monday, assembled behind metal gates that Mexican authorities erected to avoid impeding the flow of others going to the United States for work, school and recreation.

Irineo Mujica, a caravan organizer, said asylum-seekers who crossed the bridge remained in a waiting area on Mexican soil on Monday. He alleged that U.S. authorities were refusing entry in an effort to dissuade people from trying.

'When they say they reached capacity, it's just nonsense from (U.S. authorities) so they can abandon, not attend to, and evade their responsibilities in asylum cases,' said Mujica, of the advocacy group Pueblos Sin Fronteras.

The San Ysidro border inspection facility that divides San Diego from Tijuana can hold about 300 people, meaning the bottleneck may be short-lived. The agency processed about 8,000 asylum cases from October through February at the crossing, or about 50 a day.

Thousands of Haitians seeking to turn themselves in at the San Diego crossing overwhelmed U.S. border inspectors at the San Diego crossing in 2016, leading to the creation of a ticketing system for them. At one point, Haitians had to wait in Tijuana for more than five weeks for their turn.

President Trump has repeatedly criticized the caravan since it started in Mexico on March 25 near the Guatemala border, telling campaign supporters in an email last week that it had to be stopped.

Migrant caravan demonstrators climb the US-Mexico border fence during a rally on Sunday

Members of a caravan of migrants from Central America sleep near the San Ysidro checkpoint Sunday night

His broadsides came as his administration vowed to end what officials call 'legal loopholes' and 'catch-and-release' policies that allow people requesting asylum to be released from custody into the U.S. while their claims make their way through the courts, which can take years.

'Catch and release is ridiculous,' Trump said Monday at a news conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari at the White House. 'If they touch our property, if they touch our country, essentially you catch them and you release them into our country. That's not acceptable to anybody.'

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has called the caravan 'a deliberate attempt to undermine our laws and overwhelm our system.' Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said asylum claims will be resolved 'efficiently and expeditiously' and warned that anyone making false claims could be prosecuted and said asylum seekers should seek protection in the first safe country they reach, including Mexico.

Asylum seekers did not appear to be thrown off by the delay.

Elin Orellana, a 23-year-old pregnant woman from El Salvador, said she is fleeing the MS-13 street gang, a favorite target of both Sessions and Trump because of their brutal killings committed in the United States.

She said her older sister had been killed by the gang in El Salvador, so she is attempting to join other family members in the Kansas City area.

'Fighting on is worth it,' she said Sunday as she camped outside the Mexican entry to the border crossing.

Most of the people on the caravan have similar claims, arguing they are eligible for asylum because of the extreme violence they face in their home countries.