Members of a 3,000-strong U.S.-bound migrant caravan massed in a Guatemalan border town and prepared to begin crossing the muddy Suchiate River to Mexico on Friday, in spite of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of retaliation.
The first members of the group 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, with his wife and 2 children.
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 Honduran migrant holds a sign that reads in Spanish, ‘Donald Trump. We are not delinquents.’ He was among hundreds of migrant, mostly Honduran, at the border near Mexico early Friday, in Tecun Uman, Guatemala. (Moises Castillo/Associated Press)
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.”
Worries about river crossings
On the Mexican side, the Foreign Ministry said its government was in constant communication with members of the caravan explaining the migrants’ options. It said officials were already assisting some migrants who had crossed and requested refugee status.
Trump has made it clear to Mexico that he is monitoring its response. Early Thursday, he threatened to close the U.S. border if Mexico let the migrants advance. Later, he retweeted 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! <a href=”https://t.co/wf7sE0DHFT”>https://t.co/wf7sE0DHFT</a>
—@realDonaldTrump
Two busloads of those 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.”
Mexico’s southern border is notoriously porous and it was unclear how many of the migrants would attempt to cross legally at the bridge.
Honduran migrants rest at the border in Tecun Uman on Friday. (Oliver de Ros/Associated Press)
Some migrants crossed the river at a point where they could walk through shallow water Thursday, Corzo said. Others could opt for the rafts that ferry people — and historically migrants — daily across the river.
“How they’re going to cross is what we’re anxious about,” he said.
Unclear how many Mexico will take
Mexico has said the Hondurans would not be allowed to enter as a group and would either have to show a passport and visa — something few have — or apply individually for refugee status, a process that can mean waiting for up to 90 days for approval. They also said migrants caught without papers would be deported.
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.
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.
The area where many migrants attempt to cross, at Tecun Uman and near the Suchiate River, is shown. (Google)
Trump’s secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, landed in Mexico early Friday to meet with outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Nieto’s foreign secretary, Luis Videgaray Caso, as well as the country’s foreign secretary-designate, Marcelo Luis Ebrard Casaubon
Videgaray on Thursday viewed Trump’s recent comments through the lens of U.S. politics.
“Nobody likes them [Trump’s comments]. There’s no reason to give them greater transcendence or importance,” Videgaray said from the United Nations where he sought the world body’s help processing asylum requests from the migrants. “What is important to us is the migrants, respect for human rights, their due protection, particularly the most vulnerable.”
Like Guatemala and Honduras, Mexico is a country of many migrants, raising the question of whether the political will exists for a confrontation.
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.
“Anyone who wants to work in our country … will have a work visa,” he said.
Juan Escobar, 24, said he had heard about Trump’s comments but said they would not dissuade the migrants from continuing their journey.
“Only God on high can stop us.”