Update: At least 158 Central American migrant 'caravan' members admitted into US port of entry

The U.S. has admitted at least 158 Central American migrants into the San Ysidro port of entry at the Tijuana-San Diego border crossing where they will plead their cases for asylum, Reuters reported.

The caravan's organizer told Reuters that 70 men, women and children were allowed into the port of entry border early Thursday. More than 60 migrants are still waiting for a chance.

What are the details?

The migrant "caravan," which started its journey from southern Mexico more than a month ago, began arriving at the Mexico-California border over the weekend. Police arrested some who entered the U.S. illegally.

Mostly Salvadoran, Honduran, and Guatemalan nationals, the migrants are fleeing the death threats and gang violence in their home countries. The migrants ignored offers of asylum in Mexico.

El Salvador is one the deadliest places in the world among countries with a murder rate of 60 per 100,000 people in 2017, according to an Insight Crime report.  Honduras' murder rate was 42.8 per 100,000 and Guatemala was 26.1 per 100,000 during the same period.

But some of those traveling in the caravan also have ties to drugs and gangs.

Last month, police arrested an MS-13 member who posed as a minor embedded with a caravan of migrants who crossed the border illegally in Yuma, Arizona.

The MS-13 gang formed in Los Angeles in the 1980s and spread across the U.S. Members are primarily from El Salvador and other Central American countries.

What did the U.S. attorney general do?

U.S. Attorney General  Jeff Sessions announced he would be sending 35 additional immigration prosecutors and judges to the southwest border to handle the influx of immigrants seeking to enter the country.

There will be eight in southern Texas, seven in western Texas, eight in southern California, six in Arizona, and six in New Mexico.

“The American people made very clear their desire to secure our borders and prioritize the public safety and national security of our homeland,” Sessions said Wednesday in a news release. “Promoting and enforcing the rule of law is essential to our republic. By deploying these additional resources to the Southwest border, the Justice Department and the Trump Administration take yet another step in protecting our nation, its borders, and its citizens. It must be clear that there is no right to demand entry without justification.”

The additional prosecutors will "handle the prosecutions of improper entry, illegal re-entry, and alien smuggling cases," and the additional immigration judges will "handle the adjudication of immigration court cases that result from the crisis at the Southwest border."