DHS chief says 600 convicted criminals are hiding in migrant caravans

MMore than 600 members of the 10,000 migrants from Central America who travel to the United States are convicted criminals, said Monday night the country's chief security officer.

In a Facebook message defending treatment by a large group of people attempting to cross the US-Mexican border on Sunday, US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said that a significant number of these migrants were considered criminals in their country of origin. .

"[W]We can not confirm the background and identity of all members of the caravan who pose a risk to national security and public safety in our country. However, at this point, we confirmed that more than 600 convicted criminals were traveling with the flow of caravans. This includes individuals known to the police for assault, punching, drug-related crimes, burglary, rape, child abuse, etc. It's serious, "Nielsen wrote. In addition, Mexico has already arrested 100 members of the caravan for copyright violations committed in Mexico.

For weeks, the Trump administration has claimed that caravan groups were among the caravans among the caravaneers of criminals and others who are not from Central America, including the peoples of the Middle East.

Last week, NBC News reported that DHS paid informants to the caravan groups, which began arriving in the cities of northern Mexico two weeks ago. The report also said that the government was reading messages that migrants send via the WhatsApp messaging application to find out where they are going and how they might consider entering the country illegally if they are not Do not wait in Mexico when they ask for asylum in the United States.

DHS spokeswoman Katie Waldman told NBC News that it was up to the department to look for people likely to attempt to enter the United States illegally.

"Without commenting on the sources or methods, it would be a fault on the part of the United States not to know what are the migrants – including many criminals – who are trying to enter our country. We have an obligation to know who crosses our borders to protect ourselves from threats to the homeland and any indication to the contrary is misinformed, "Waldman said.

DHS also said it obtained information from anonymous sources, including the Mexican government.

Nielsen, however, did not report Monday the sources of the 600 figure, but suggested that criminals in caravans were one of the reasons for the violence at the Tijuana-San Diego border on Sunday.

"[T]The violence we saw at the border was perfectly predictable, she said. This caravan, unlike the previous caravans, had already violently entered #Mexico and attacked the border police in two other countries. I refuse to believe that anyone honestly asserts that it is acceptable to attack law enforcement with stones and projectiles. It is shocking that I have to explain this, but the police can be seriously or fatally injured in such attacks. Self-defense is not debatable for most law-abiding Americans. "