Kirstjen Nielsen says US does not intend to shoot caravan migrants



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US authorities do not intend to fire on migrants attempting to enter the country heading north, said Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

"We currently have no intention of shooting at people, but they will be apprehended," Nielsen told Fox News's Martha MacCallum. She added that she took the security of the US border authorities "extremely seriously" and "that they have the ability of the force to defend themselves."

For weeks, President Donald Trump stoked the fury of elections about the caravan, saying "national emergency"That requires troops on active duty to secure the border and prepare a decree that would prohibit asylum seekers from entering the country. He falsely claimed that the caravan was populated by criminals, gang members and terrorists from the Middle East, and threatened to cut aid to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, a country of origin. of most migrants.

Nielsen said the government "will have to fix the problem". The troops will participate in border patrols, which means that their weapons will be used for self-defense, officials told CNN.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis would intend to send at least 800 troops to the border in response to the Trump order. The caravan of thousands of migrants, from Honduras, is expected to reach the US-Mexico border within a few days.

US law allows caravan people to legally enter the country with a claim for asylum, even though the Trump administration has limited the number of asylum applications processed daily. And even if the migrants go through the first stage of the process – an interview to determine if they are credibly fearful of returning to their home country – they will likely be detained during the processing of their case.

The backlog of refugee cases is already around 800,000, which means it may take many years before a decision is made on new asylum claims.

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