Asylum Seekers Overwhelm San Diego Border from Eritrea, Cameroon and Mexico

Migrants from countries like Eritrea, Cameroon, and Mexico have flooded the U.S. southern border in San Diego to such an extent in recent days that U.S. border officials have been unable to process them without long lines forming on the Tijuana side of the border.

Nearly 100 migrants lined up in a plaza on the Mexico side of the border that leads to the San Ysidro pedestrian border crossing in San Diego last week because of the backlog, according to the San Diego Union Tribune. Mexican officials told those who tried to sleep in the plaza that they had to leave. Eritrean migrants cited in the article claimed that last Monday 25 migrants were temporarily jailed for waiting in the plaza.

In just the month of October 2017 CBP Border Patrol San Diego border sector reported apprehension of individuals from Bangladesh (12), Brazil (1), Camaroon (3), Chad (1), China (16), El Salvador (76), Eritrea (7), Gambia (4), Guatemala (178), Honduras (54), India (101), Iran (1), Mexico (1,877), Nepal (31), Nicaragua (1), Pakistan (13), Peru (1), Somalia (1), and “Unknown” (1) — a total of 2,379 individuals. These numbers are similar to volumes seen in this sector for October since 2012.

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