Migrants arrested trying to cross border

U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended more than two dozen migrants who tried to squeeze through or climb over the border fence near Tijuana, Mexico, on Monday night. Some attempted to evade capture, but others turned themselves in to claim asylum, Reuters reported. The illegal crossing attempts follow growing unrest among thousands of caravan migrants waiting in Tijuana to apply for asylum in the United States.

On Saturday, city officials shut down a sports complex that had served as a shelter for about 6,000 migrants, citing unsanitary conditions, including mud, rampant lice infestations, and respiratory infections. Late November rainstorms exacerbated poor living conditions, and Tijuana’s mayor said housing the migrants had strained the city’s resources. Officials moved migrants by bus to a new shelter, a former concert venue run by Mexican authorities about 10 miles from the nearest border crossing at Otay Mesa.

The move coincided with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s first day in office. He signed an agreement with the leaders of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras in an attempt to stem the flow of asylum-seekers. The agreement aims at one of the root problems causing migration by funding job development in those Central American countries. Many migrants said poverty and violence drove them to leave.