More asylum seekers arrive at border as US expands military power

Tijuana, Mexico - Miriam* reported the death threats to the Honduran police. Twice. And she took her nephew to the medical examiner after gang members attacked him. I was taking care of one of my nephews and the gang wanted me to hand him over. They wanted to recruit him, Miriam says. I refused, and that is when they wanted to harm us. You dont refuse them anything they ask, because they will kill you. I went to file reports with the police and it was useless, she tells Al Jazeera. The Honduran police did nothing and a representative from the governmental human rights commission told her the family should flee for safety, Miriam says. She called her sister, who came home immediately. The sisters, Miriams husband, her three children and 14-year-old nephew all left La Ceiba on the same day in September. Her sister and nephew fled their home in northern Honduras to Europe and Mariam and her family fled to Mexico. Their first stop was in Tapachula, where Mariams family applied for humanitarian visas. When a caravan of several thousand migrants and refugees, who undertook a collective month-long journey north through Guatemala and Mexico, passed through the city, they wanted to join but decided to stay behind in order to ensure they would receive the visas. But this week, 30-year-old Mariam and her family caught up with the collective exodus in Tijuana where they are now staying until they can apply for asylum. The wait could be weeks, however, as the Trump administration continues to try to put restrictions on the group and the thousands more that follow behind. Rights groups challenge asylum rules Earlier this month, President Donald Trump declared that asylum claims would only be processed if those making them crossed into the US at official ports of entry. A district court in California struck down the measure on Monday, issuing a temporary injunction to put an immediate halt to its implementation pending a December 19 hearing. The lawsuit that may affect Miriam and her family the most, however, is a complaint challenging former Attorney General Jeff Sessionss June guidance, which makes it harder for individuals fleeing gang violence and domestic abuse to apply for asylum. The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies in August. Court proceedings are ongoing. Along with poverty and unemployment, violence is the most common factor driving the exodus. Mariam continues to hold copies of the medical examiners report and the papers she filed with police to show why her family fled. Al Jazeera has interviewed several other individuals and families fleeing gang violence in Honduras and El Salvador. The Trump administration says the new rules are needed to protect the US and its border. On Tuesday, Kirstjen Nielsen, the Department of Homeland Security secretary, said, without providing evidence, that the US had identified hundreds of criminals, including known gang members, travelling with the caravan. Agencies

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More asylum seekers arrive at border as US expands military power