Spirits were high Wednesday as more members of the Central American caravan — about one-third of the roughly 150 who made the harrowing trek — entered the United States Wednesday.

But as their month-long journey to the United States comes to an end, those seeking asylum are preparing for a different kind of journey: one through the U.S. immigration system.

“Our trip isn’t over,” said Jose Coello, 17, of Honduras as he walked into the U.S. from Tijuana Wednesday morning. “This is just the next step.”

During an asylum process that takes months, even years, to complete immigrants from the caravan can expect to undergo interviews and screenings by multiple federal agencies, stints in private detention centers, and make complicated legal arguments without the help of a lawyer.


1 / 15 Staying away from the drizzle a young girl colors inside her tent at the Chaparral border. | Alejandro Tamayo Â© The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 15 Elvia from Honduras with her 1 year old Fernanda. The baby crawled out of the fence area and her mother calls her back with a piece of cake at the Chaparral border. | Alejandro Tamayo © The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 15 In the center with a white/green hat Alex Mensing coordinator of Pueblo Sin Fronteras speaks to a group of Central Americans. | Alejandro Tamayo © The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 15 In the center Ariana 2, years-old with her mother Sarah in the black from El Salvador paint. Activate Labs a non-profit organization brought art supplies to the Chaparral border. | Alejandro Tamayo © The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 15 Light rains have hit the area overnight, tents and tarps cover the area for the Central Americans seeking asylum Chaparral USA/Mexico pedestrian border. | Alejandro Tamayo © The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 15 A man passes by the Central Americans seeking asylum area. He heads towards the pedestrian crossing. | Alejandro Tamayo © The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 15 Rusty 8, from Guatemala hangs on the fence. The sign reads “Welcome, there is hope”. On the left Monica Curca founder of Activate Labs, the non-profit who brought the art supplies. | Alejandro Tamayo © The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 15 Paola 12, from Guatemala in pink hat paints a butterfly. Activate Labs a non-profit organization brought art supplies to the Chaparral border. | Alejandro Tamayo © The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 15 Los Angeles resident Mary Lizardi with her friend Andres Vidaurre came to donate goods to the Centra Americans at at the Chaparral border. They left LA at 5:30am and arrived in Tijuana at 10:30am. | Alejandro Tamayo © The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 15 A woman starts to serve food for the Central American asylum seekers. She calls for other to start forming a line. | Alejandro Tamayo © The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 15 A young boy named Oscar is getting checked up by a Dr’s at the Chaparral border. Mobil medical units provided by the Mexican government arrive at the site. | Alejandro Tamayo © The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 15 Several Central American asylum seekers are getting checked up by a Dr’s at the Chaparral border. Mobil medical units provided by the Mexican government arrive at the site. | Alejandro Tamayo © The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 15 Children and adults paint on the ground. Activate Labs a non-profit organization brought art supplies to the Chaparral border. | Alejandro Tamayo © The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 15 Alejandro (on the left) from El Salvador and Jose (on the right) from Honduras paint an Honduras flag. Activate Labs a non-profit organization brought art supplies to the Chaparral border. | Alejandro Tamayo © The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune) 15 / 15 The Central American asylum seekers sleep underneath the tarps and shades provided for them by donations. | Alejandro Tamayo © The San Diego Union Tribune 2018 (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Caravan members have said they won’t rest until every single one of them is in the United States. Pueblo Sin Fronteras caravan leaders plan to go further, by having members of their legal team follow up with immigrants in the U.S.

“We are committed to standing with them as best we can,” said organizer Leo Olsen.

Early Wednesday, Pueblo Sin Fronteras leaders gathered in the middle of their makeshift tent city to call out the latest names of asylum seekers with the help of a loudspeaker as they huddled under an umbrella to shield them from morning showers.


Dozens of immigrants surrounded Alex Mensing, one of the organizers, as he called out each name. Some ran up to the middle of the encampment in excitement, shouting, “Yes, that’s me.”

The chosen were given five minutes to gather their belongings and head into the San Ysidro Port of Entry for processing. All of them planned to claim asylum.

Among them was Katerina Enamorado, a 22-year-old from Honduras traveling with her 1-year-old daughter. Enamorado was feeding her child when her name was called. She was so excited that she ran to Mensing without putting on her shoes and still holding her child’s baby food.

“I’m so tired but I’m even more excited,” she said while packing her belongings. “I hope to work and give my daughter a better life.”


Jose Coello, 17 of Honduras, was serving food to other immigrants when his name was called. It took him a few seconds to realize it meant he was moving on.

Coello joined the caravan at the Guatemalan border. During the trip, members of the caravan had become a family, he said.

“This is something beautiful, unforgettable,” he said. “We are a family and we won’t be happy until the last one of us gets through.”

But they also know the process is just beginning. Statistics show that people from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala have higher asylum denial rates than those of other counties. Not having an attorney stacks the odds against them even more.


Unlike criminal court, immigration court does not guarantee people the right to an attorney. Those who cannot afford a lawyer or are unable to find pro-bono representation have to make their own case before an immigration judge.

Caravan members will likely spend time in one of three Southern California immigration detention centers.

Generally, asylum seekers spend most, if not all, of their time in facilities run by private prison companies contracted with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

People who present themselves at the border in San Diego often go to Otay Detention Center. If there is no room, they are transported to Adelanto Detention Facility, the Imperial Regional Detention Facility, or even further.


There are also temporary holding facilities that immigrants from the caravan call the “ice box” because of how cold it can get inside.

Daisey Guardado, 40, of Honduras, arrived in Tijuana Sunday with the caravan. She hopes to be let into the U.S. any day now and organizers told her to begin preparing her two daughters, 12 and 15, for the trip.

“They say we should make sure our kids are healthy before we go into the United States because we don’t know what awaits us,” she said. “They told us to give them medicine because when we go to the ‘ice box’ they can get sick.”

U.S. border officials did not initially let members of the caravan enter because of insufficient space and resources. Central Americans from the caravan grew concerned thinking the U.S. would not let them in.


But by Wednesday afternoon, 49 had been allowed into the U.S. since Sunday, officials said. About 100 still waited in the tent city.

To deal with an already existing backlog of cases, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that 18 supervising immigration judges are being assigned to hear cases in immigration courts near the border, both in person and through video teleconferencing.

The department also said that 35 new assistant U.S. attorney jobs have been created to help prosecute improper entry, illegal re-entry and immigrant smuggling in the four states bordering Mexico.

The caravan gained widespread attention when President Donald Trump criticized it as an example of “weak” immigration laws. Crews from major news networks have spent days in Tijuana covering the immigrants and following groups as they enter the United States.


Caravan organizer Olsen said other asylum-seeking immigrants will continue to head to the United States.

“We always say, ‘La Lucha Sigue. The fight continues,’” Olsen said. “The fight for migrant rights never really ends until everyone has been afforded them.”

As the Central American caravan shrinks, a secondary tent city made up mostly of Mexican immigrants fleeing cartel violence continues to grow.

Some members from that group have waited more than a week to get into the United States. On Wednesday, approximately 50 were allowed in but about 150 were still waiting with more joining the waiting list each day.


More donated tents, clothes and food arrived mostly from American volunteers who read about the caravan on the news and decided to send some help.

Because the caravan’s tent city is already at capacity, they gave the donated tents to members of the Mexican group, which is now larger than the caravan’s encampment. Members of both groups ate McDonald’s chicken sandwiches that one of the donors brought.

As the Mexican group grows, some Central Americans who did not travel with the caravan are joining their waiting list. Space is so compact that families share tents.

Members of the Mexican group were also optimistic Wednesday as more of them continued to enter the United States.


Salvador Sixtos, of the Mexican state of Michoacan, held out hope he would be admitted in the next few days.

“I don’t feel envy for not being among the first,” the 71-year-old said.

He arrived at the border on Sunday with his wife and their adult son and daughter.

As he mingled with other Mexican immigrants in his group Wednesday afternoon, he expressed discontent about the amount of attention and help the caravan received, saying it was a bit unfair because those in his group were in their home country.


Later, he acknowledged both groups were in the same situation.

“As human beings we are equal and we have the same value and we have to respect the process,” he said. “I wish them good luck and ask god for the same.”

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