A group of migrants gather at the Chaparral border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018, as they try to pressure their way into the U.S. The mayor of Tijuana has declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city and says that he has asked the United Nations for aid to deal with the approximately 5,000 Central American migrants who have arrived in the city. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
The Associated Press
SAN DIEGO (AP) - The Latest on the Trump administration's position on the migrant caravans (all times local):
9:55 a.m.
President Donald Trump's counselor Kellyanne Conway says she feels for the mothers and children seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border but the idea that everyone in migrant caravans is "peacefully seeking asylum" is a misnomer.
The U.S. has used tear gas at the Mexican border to repel a crowd of migrants that included angry rock-throwers but also barefoot, crying children.
Conway on Tuesday denounced smugglers who have taken migrants' money with guarantees of asylum. She wonders aloud why there weren't people helping the migrants seek asylum legally.
Conway says violence at the border shows Trump critics who accused the president of playing politics with the issue are being proven wrong.
Trump has portrayed migrants at the San Diego-Tijuana border crossing as a threat to U.S. national security. Critics insist he's exaggerating to stoke fears and achieve his political goals.
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12:05 a.m.
President Donald Trump is defending the use of what he calls "very safe" tear gas by border agents to repel a crowd of Central American migrants that included rock-throwers but also crying children.
Critics denounced the border agents' action Sunday as overkill, but Trump kept to a hard line.
Trump said Monday that the agents had been "rushed by some very tough people."
But at a Mississippi roundtable later Monday, the president seemed to acknowledge that children were affected, asking, "Why is a parent running up into an area where they know the tear gas is forming and it's going to be formed and they were running up with a child?"
He said it was "a very minor form of the tear gas itself" that he assured was "very safe."
Migrants run from tear gas launched by U.S. agents, amid photojournalists covering the Mexico-U.S. border, after a group of migrants got past Mexican police at the Chaparral crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018. The mayor of Tijuana has declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city and says that he has asked the United Nations for aid to deal with the approximately 5,000 Central American migrants who have arrived in the city. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
The Associated Press
President Donald Trump calls on a reporter as he speaks to members of the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018, for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and then on to Mississippi for rallies. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The Associated Press
Migrants stand in a line waiting for donated food in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018, as they try to reach the U.S. The mayor of Tijuana has declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city and says that he has asked the United Nations for aid to deal with the approximately 5,000 Central American migrants who have arrived in the city. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
The Associated Press
ALTERNATIVE CROP OF XRE301.- A Central American migrant is stopped by U.S. agents who order him to go back to the Mexican side of the border, after a group of migrants got past Mexican police at the Chaparral crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018, at the border with San Ysidro, California. The mayor of Tijuana has declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city and says that he has asked the United Nations for aid to deal with the approximately 5,000 Central American migrants who have arrived in the city. (AP Photo/Pedro Acosta)APTOPIX
The Associated Press
Migrants gather at the Mexico-U.S. border after getting past a line of Mexican police at the Chaparral crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018, as they try to reach the U.S. The mayor of Tijuana has declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city and says that he has asked the United Nations for aid to deal with the approximately 5,000 Central American migrants who have arrived in the city. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
The Associated Press
A Honduran migrant lies on the riverbank as Mexican police move away from tear gas fired by U.S. agents at the Mexico-U.S. border in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018, as a group of migrants try to pressure their way into the U.S. The mayor of Tijuana has declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city and says that he has asked the United Nations for aid to deal with the approximately 5,000 Central American migrants who have arrived in the city. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
A migrant carrying a roll of carpet wipes his face after U.S. border agents fired tear gas at a group of migrants who had pushed past Mexican police at the Chaparral border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018. The mayor of Tijuana has declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city and says that he has asked the United Nations for aid to deal with the approximately 5,000 Central American migrants who have arrived in the city. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
A migrant carries a child past Mexican police who stand guard outside the Benito Juarez Sports Center which is serving as a shelter for migrants in Tijuana, Mexico, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018. The mayor of Tijuana has declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city and says that he has asked the United Nations for aid to deal with thousands of Central American migrants who have arrived. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press