CBP officials at PDN bridge let six undocumented immigrants claim asylum

A group of undocumented immigrants showed up at the Paso del Norte Bridge Friday morning to claim asylum.

After initially being told they would not be permitted to cross the international boundary, Customs And Border Protection officials told the group, accompanied by an immigrant rights activist, that there was room for five undocumented immigrants in a detention center nearby.

Upon learning two of the unaccompanied minors were brothers, CPB officials allowed them to stay together, leading the six to the detention center. A family from Guerrero, Mexico, was told to come back at a later date.

Wiping away tears, a mother told ABC-7 she left her 9-year-old daughter in Guatemala out of fear. The woman told ABC-7 gangs would take the money she earned, leaving her with no choice than to flee her country with her teenaged son.

Local advocate Ruben Garcia told ABC-7 the woman’s claim is an example of an “asylum claim based on fear, and that’s what obligates the law to have them process her.”

Garcia said he was “gratified the law was followed. That’s what it is. It’s right because these are individuals who have left their country because of fear. They have the right to ask for asylum.”

A CBP officer at the scene explained to the immigration rights advocates that it would be inhumane to let immigrants into the US when shelters are at capacity.

“This is why we are doing this. We were at a point where it was not safe, not humane, the way we were at capacity. We don’t want to do that anymore. We want to be able to feed them, give them space to lay down, feed them on time,” the CBP officer told Garcia.