Honduran newlyweds cling to asylum dream, as chances dim

A crowded migrant camp in a dangerous region of Mexico may not make for a dream honeymoon, but Dexy Maldonado and Marvin Madrid, who fled Honduras, chose to forgo their dream of a wedding on U.S. soil.

Madrid says the couple had waited long enough.

(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) HONDURAN NEWLYWED, MARVIN MADRID, SAYING:

"It's better over here and also it's very expensive to get married over there. So we took advantage of the opportunity here and we've made the decision to stay."

The pair married last week in the Mexican border town of Matamoros.

The newlyweds are among at least 42,000 asylum seekers who, since January, have been waiting in troubled Mexican border cities while they await hearings with U.S. immigration judges.

Maldonado and Madrid hope the wedding will help keep the couple and their 2-year old daughter together.

The family was separated in Texas when they first claimed asylum.

But their hopes to live together in the U.S. may have been dashed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A ruling last week will allow the Trump administration - for now - to deny asylum claims to anyone who traveled through another country, such as Mexico, without claiming asylum there first.

The decision could spell the end of the journey for thousands of Central Americans who fled crime and poverty.

U.S. Citizenship and and Immigration Services Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli appeared on CBS' Face the Nation Sunday to defend the new restriction.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES ACTING DIRECTOR, KEN CUCCINELLI, SAYING:

"We have a crisis at the southern border and this is just one of the many responses we've had. the President has been very clear about the need to be aggressive on the border and that's exactly what we're doing."

While the latest ruling is facing legal challenges, Maldonado, Madrid and thousands of others wait in a town controlled by drug cartels, where they take turns keeping watch at night to protect their children from violent gangs.