Caravan migrants say Donald Trump is discriminating against them

Migrants who came to the U.S. as part of the illegal immigrant caravan accused President Trump of discrimination this week, saying he ordered his Justice Department to prosecute people from Central America who jumped the border, while ignoring people from other countries such as India.

Some of the migrants have asked a federal judge to toss out the illegal entry charges against them, saying the unfair prosecutions undermine the Justice Department’s entire case and violate the Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection.

“The government cannot choose whom to prosecute based on alleged national origin. But that’s exactly what happened here: the government arrested a group of people who were in the precise same situation, and selected only those whom it believed to be from Central America to prosecute while releasing the rest,” wrote Eric S. Fish, a public defender who is challenging the cases.

If he succeeds, it would be a major blow to Mr. Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who promised a get-tough approach toward the caravan, saying they wanted to send a message to other would-be illegal immigrants not to make the journey if they don’t have valid claims of legal status.

One of the cases Mr. Fish is seeking to dismiss, against Olga Esmeralda George, stems from a Friday arrest in an area of north of the border that Border Patrol agents refer to as Goat’s Canyon.

Eighteen self-admitted illegal immigrants were nabbed at the same time: 13 from Honduras, including Ms. George; one from Guatemala; one from Mexico; and three from India. Only four of the Hondurans and the one Mexican were charged for illegal entry as part of the suspected caravan.

Mr. Fish, in his motion to have the charges tossed, said the administration is suffering from a disjointed policy.

Mr. Sessions had said he would take a “zero-tolerance” policy toward illegal entries, but didn’t bring charges against 13 of the 18 people caught as part of the same group, undermining that claim, according to Mr. Fish’s court filing.

The Justice Department declined to comment on the status of the cases.

To win, Mr. Fish said he has to prove that the prosecutions were selective and that the purpose was discriminatory. That last part, he says, he can prove by pointing to Mr. Trump’s own actions and words — and particularly his Twitter posts attacking the caravan.

In one tweet Mr. Trump highlighted “the big caravan of people from Honduras.”

And in an April 5 speech in which he mentioned the caravan, Mr. Trump said “women are raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before.” Mr. Fish said Mr. Trump, in saying that, had “claimed that members of the caravan were committing widespread rapes.”

The caravan started out as about 1,500 people, mostly from Honduras, who massed in southern Mexico and made their way across that country. Many dropped out, were deported or given legal status in Mexico, but more than 150 arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border late last week.

Many of them are waiting for appointments to make official requests for asylum, but some decided to jump the border. A source said as many as 30 people were arrested who Border Patrol agents thought were connected with the caravan.

Ms. George had four of her children with her when she was caught by agents, according to charging documents in the case.

After she was caught she first asked to speak to the Honduran consulate then moments later revoked that request. She instead said she would invoke her right to remain silent until she had a lawyer.

She did, however, demand asylum.

Her file is marked with the notation: “********CARAVAN PARTICIPANT******”