Caravan migrant makes it across border, gives birth in U.S.

A Honduran woman who traveled with a migrant caravan from her home country to the U.S. border successfully entered the country illegally and gave birth to her child on U.S. soil, according to KNSD-TV.

The mother is 19-year-old Maryury Serrano Hernandez. She left Honduras on Oct. 17 with her husband and son and was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on Nov. 26.

The family attempted to cross illegally because they said they didn't feel safe in Tijuana, where many of the locals are not happy about the thousands of migrants awaiting asylum in their city.

Hernandez was taken to the hospital the next day after reporting stomach pains, and her child was born the next day in a San Diego hospital — and is a U.S. citizen by birthright. She said she felt "like a criminal" while resting in the hospital, closely watched by CBP agents.

Now, the family of four has been released into the United States as they wait for their asylum request to be heard by a judge. An American woman they connected with through a migrant rights non-profit has agreed to house them.

Hernandez said giving birth to her son in the U.S. was a "big reward" for the long and difficult journey.

"Thank God she did her part, but there were times we stayed until the last [of the caravan]," her husband, Miguel, said.

This family's story is an example of what many migrants hoped for when they set out on the weekslong journey to the United States — to get across the border into the U.S., request asylum, and be allowed to wait for their hearing in the United States.

When they got to the border, however, they were made to wait in Mexico, where their presence has been a source of conflict with Tijuana residents who have to find a place for them. Migrants may have to wait months before their asylum claims are heard, and some have opted to turn and go back home rather than wait in a hostile environment in Mexico.

It's also an example of what President Donald Trump said he wanted to prevent by ending birthright citizenship via executive order, something legal scholars disagree on whether he has the authority to do.

(H/T The Washington Times)