The asylum-seekers are primarily from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Cuba. Most have been here for months, several for nearly a year and all are waiting for their claims to be processed. So far more than 60,000 people have been turned away under the policy and less than 0.1% have been granted asylum, according to Amnesty International. In lieu of a physical wall the protracted, confusing, and lengthy asylum process has in effect become a bureaucratic wall.

“In Honduras it was not safe for me or my son,” said Mikaila, 37, who arrived with her 7-year-old son Daniel last week. She said she had been sexually assaulted in the summer, and her husband had been murdered. “I do not know what will happen but next year I hope we can have Christmas in the United States. That is why I left everything behind. For my son. I want him to have a chance at a good life, a chance at the American dream.”