Secretary of DHS: "This caravan does not fit"

A caravan of Central American immigrants heading to the United States via Mexico "does not enter," Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said Sunday.

"My general message to this caravan is this: do not come," Nielsen told Fox News Sunday. "You will not be admitted."

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"There is a good way to immigrate to the United States," she added, "and that's not it."

Since its creation, the caravan has grown to more than 7,000 people. But its size is nothing new, said Nielsen.

"We have a crisis at the border right now … [and] this caravan is a version of it, "said Nielsen. "Frankly, we basically see caravans every day with these numbers."

The Mexican government has already offered asylum to some members of the caravan, Nielsen said. She asked those who wanted to emigrate from their home country to settle there.

"Mexico offered them asylum – in some cases they refused. Mexico offered them work permits – in some cases they refused, "said Nielsen. "What the president and I say … it is:" If you ask for asylum, do it in this country. "

She went on to explain how asylum is different from other means of immigration – reasons why caravan members should not continue to visit the US border.

"Mexico has offered you a refuge. If you want a job, it's not a safe haven. If you want to be reunited with your family, it's not an asylum. If you just want to come live in the United States, it's not an asylum, "she said. "There are legal ways to do that, but it's the rule of law."

Along with President Donald Trump, Nielsen also made an indirect reference to the possibility that the caravan includes terrorists – an assertion that still needs to be supported by evidence.

"As Secretary of Homeland Security, I can not tell you that I know everyone in this flow," said Nielsen. "What I do know is that we are preventing 3,000 people a year, who have travel patterns similar to those of terrorists, trying to enter the southwestern border. And, as you know, in general, we stop in the United States … with terrorists every day. "