376 Central American Migrants Burrow Under Border Fence and Request Asylum from Border Patrol

A group of migrants said to be the largest ever has illegally tunneled under the southern U.S. border fence and surrendered to Border Patrol to request asylum.

The group of 376 Central Americans ‘inundated agents’ after crossing the border through a series of hasty tunnels near Yuma, Arizona on Monday, Customs and Border Protection said.

The agency said 200 of the group were minors, and that nearly all the rest said they were their parents, meaning that they will likely be released into the U.S. as their asylum claims are processed.

It is believed to be the largest single group to cross the border illegally to request asylum. The Border Patrol has said that smugglers transport large groups to the border and then instruct them to cross and turn themselves in.

Officials said that most of the group entered the U.S. through seven small openings burrowed under the border barrier.

The crossings took place at a remote stretch of border where old fencing is about 12 feet high and the ground is sandy. Stretched thin, CBP has only three agents patrolling the 26-mile section of border....