MSNBC reporter Gadi Schwartz went to Tijuana, Mexico, to report on the migrant caravan at the U.S. border and found the migrants are not getting through as easily as they assumed.
Schwartz said Tuesday that a relatively small group of women and children may be eligible for asylum, while the majority of the caravan is comprised of men who heard in Honduras that it would be easy getting into the U.S. and that they would qualify for work programs. U.S. border protection was firm enough to prevent them from easily crossing the border, however.
"Now that they are here in Tijuana, they've realized that it is very difficult to get into the United States, especially after what happened on Sunday," Schwartz said, referring to Border Patrol officers using tear gas to disperse a crowd, "some of them are deciding to turn back."
Schwartz showed a tent with people looking to go back to their home countries, such as Honduras or Guatemala.
"Eighty-one people from the migrant caravan yesterday decided to go back to Honduras, and these people here say they may be back in their country in a matter of days," Schwartz said.
President Donald Trump and Republicans were criticized for taking the migrant caravan seriously as a threat to the border before it arrived, but the caravan has turned out to pose security problems. Border Patrol used tear gas on a group of caravan members who tried to cross the border illegally on Sunday.
The media has chided Trump for not talking more about the caravan after the midterm elections. The Trump administration also took flak for using tear gas and pepper spray on migrants, even though Department of Homeland Security records show the Obama administration used them, too, and with more frequency.