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SAN DIEGO — American authorities detained 45 Iraqi Christians on Wednesday after they tried to walk across the Mexican border and into the United States.  

Mexican police were holding about 150 more in a hotel just across the border. 

Relatives of the group in the hotel said they were seeking political asylum in the United States because of religious persecution in their homeland. 

The 45 Iraqis who were being held at the border arrived at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, which links San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, in small groups without visas, said Lauren Mack, a spokeswoman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. 

The 26 adults and 19 children are being held at the border crossing while the INS awaits translators to determine whether they qualify to enter the United States, Mack said. 

“They are very well, very calm, very quiet,” she said. 

Immigration authorities received a letter from someone claiming to represent the Iraqis that said they are members of the Chaldean minority and had been waiting along with others in Tijuana for permission to enter the United States, said an INS official, speaking on condition of anonymity. 

They grew tired of waiting and decided to present themselves en masse to U.S. authorities at the border, the official said. 

Meanwhile, at least 150 more Chaldeans were being detained in a hotel near downtown Tijuana that was guarded by Mexican federal police officers holding M-16 rifles. 

A Mexican immigration official who did not give his name told reporters outside the hotel the group will be held there for at least one night while authorities check their immigration status.