Mexico seeks UN help on migrant caravan at its border, vows to help U.S.
Processing Central Americans could allow Mexico to placate Trump
Honduran migrants in a truck en route to Tecun Uman, near the border with Mexico, take part in a caravan Friday in Coatepeque, Guatemala. (Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images)
Mexico's government vowed Friday to meet the challenge of a caravan of Central American migrants heading north that has angered U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened to shut down the U.S-Mexico border to halt its passage.
Speaking after a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Mexico City, Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said the two had discussed the caravan that set off from Honduras last weekend, and is now at the Mexican border.
"It's a challenge that Mexico is facing, and that's how I expressed it to Secretary Pompeo," Videgaray told a news conference alongside his U.S. counterpart.
The Mexican government has sought assistance from the United Nations refugee agency to help process migrants claiming refugee status at the southern border, a step that could allow it to disperse the train of people and placate Trump.
Pompeo said he and Videgaray spoke of the importance of stopping the caravan before it reaches the U.S. border. Pompeo thanked Mexico for its efforts to address the migrant flow, including calling in the United Nations for assistance.
Several thousand Honduran migrants seeking to escape violence and poverty moved through Guatemala on the way to Mexico, with some hoping to enter the United States.
Honduran migrants, part of a caravan trying to reach the U.S., gather near the border with Mexico, in Tecun Uman, Guatemala on Friday. (Reuters)
Earlier on Friday, Videgaray said the caravan had close to 4,000 people and that the migrants could individually present their claims to enter Mexico or seek refugee status.
"We haven't had a caravan or group of this size seeking refuge at the same time, that's why we've sought the support of the United Nations," Videgaray told Mexican television.
Costs of closing a border
Mexico says the migrants will be processed and those without a legitimate case to travel onwards or stay in Mexico will be returned to their countries of origin.
A caravan of Central Americans that formed in southern Mexico in late March also drew the ire of Trump, who on Thursday threatened to deploy the military and close the southern U.S. border if Mexico did not halt the latest procession.
Mexican federal police in riot gear receive instructions at the border crossing between Guatemala and Mexico, in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico on Friday. (Moises Castillo/Associated Press)
Congress and business groups would likely balk at any moves in that direction, due to the economic costs of closing the border.
Additionally, legal precedent has established that the U.S. military can't be deployed for law enforcement purposes at border points under normal circumstances, though some 2,400 National Guard troops from four states have been assigned to support duties helping out customs and border patrol officers.
By the end of Thursday, Trump struck a more positive note, retweeting a video of Mexican federal police arriving at the Guatemalan border and wrote: "Thank you Mexico, we look forward to working with you!"
Thank you Mexico, we look forward to working with you!
KarlaZabsVerified account @karlazabs
MIGRANT CARAVAN: Two federal police-filled planes w/anti-riot gear landed near the Mexico/Guatemala border this morn (vid source: Policia Federal de Mexico).
Trump has seized on the caravan as a potential vote-getting issue for Republicans ahead of the midterms early next month, continually accusing the Democrats of being weak on immigration and border security issues.
In April, Mexican immigration officials had some success in dispersing the smaller caravan by processing many who decided to seek refugee status in Mexico, but some did continue on to the U.S. border where they were processed over several days.
In contrast to the earlier caravan, which moved deeper into the interior of Mexico before officials began intensive efforts to process the migrants, the Mexican government has focused on the new group right on its southern border with Guatemala.
Repeat attempts for some
The first members of the caravan began arriving in Tecun Uman on buses and trucks early Thursday, but the bulk of the caravan sloshed into town on foot in a downpour late in the afternoon and into the evening. Before dawn Friday, the migrants decided to wait a few more hours for stragglers to arrive before heading to the border crossing.
Some planned to walk toward Mexican territory in a formation that put the men along the edges and women and children in the centre. Others prepared to cross the river in rafts, the traditional way migrants enter. As the sun rose, a military helicopter flew along the Mexican side of river, foreshadowing the difficulties they could face.
The migrants are mostly Hondurans, but others like Salvadoran Jonathan Guzman have joined the caravan en route. "It's the third time that I'm trying to cross," said the 22-year-old who dreams of finding a construction job in Los Angeles.
On Thursday, hundreds had walked to the river's edge where they sang the national anthems of Honduras and Guatemala.
It was a great sacrifice, but it's all for a better life. It's not all good. We're wet and we still don't have a place to sleep.— Jonathan Perales , 22
A smaller group walked to the border crossing but was blocked by Guatemalan police. The group eventually retreated to await the rest of the caravan.
The exhausted travellers, the majority from Honduras, dispersed to the local migrant shelter and parks where volunteers offered them food.
A child drinks from a water tap as Honduran migrants queue for food at a church Friday near the border with Mexico, in Tecun Uman. (Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)
Jonathan Perales, 22, arrived with his wife Heidy and their daughters, ages 2 and 4. They had been travelling since 4 a.m. and arrived at the border after dark. They paid for bus tickets they could ill afford.
"It was a great sacrifice, but it's all for a better life," he said. "It's not all good. We're wet and we still don't have a place to sleep."
Two busloads of police were visible on the Mexican side of the bridge from Tecun Uman on Thursday. Metal barricades were stored to one side, but not yet deployed.
Edgar Corzo of Mexico's National Human Rights Commission expressed concern about the police deployment in Ciudad Hidalgo.
"We hope that the immigration officials and federal police have a humanitarian understanding," Corzo said. He said they were "worried that things could escape rational margins."
Many migrants attempt to cross into Mexico at Tecun Uman and near the Suchiate River. (Google)
President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wants to avoid repression against migrants and also to avoid angering the United States. He said this week that Mexico would offer jobs to Central Americans who have a work visa.
With files from CBC News and The Associated Press
