Roberto Ramirez
ReutersSat, 18 Jan 2020 17:52 UTC
Central American migrants entered Mexico from Guatemala in small groups on Saturday after brief clashes earlier in the day when dozens of people tried to force their way across the border and were pushed back by Mexican security forces.
Hundreds of people who entered Guatemala from Honduras in recent days have been arriving at the Mexican border, with the bulk of them still advancing in a larger caravan, testing the resolve of Mexico to heed U.S. demands to contain migrant flows.
President Donald Trump has threatened to hurt Mexico and Central American countries economically if they allow large groups to reach the U.S. border. The latest exodus from Honduras has been accompanied by U.S. border agents.
Mexican security officials closed the border at the crossing between Tecun Uman, Guatemala and Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, after the morning scuffles. But once order was restored, Mexico began letting in groups of around 20 at a time, a Reuters witness said.Mexico has offered migrants work in the south, but those who do not accept it or seek asylum will not be issued safe conduct passes to the United States, the interior ministry said.Guatemalan authorities say some 4,000 people have entered the country since Wednesday, the biggest surge since Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador signed accords with the United States that increase pressure on them to deal with migrants.Many of the migrants are seeking to escape poverty, violence or other social problems in Central America. However, while a few have expressed an interest in staying in Mexico, most are eager to take their chances in the United States.Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has launched a series of initiatives to create jobs in the poorer south. Still, under his rule, Mexico's economy has significantly underperformed the United States, stagnating through 2019.
Television footage from the morning showed a group of migrants jostling and clashing with members of Mexico's National Guard on the bridge separating Guatemala from Mexico.
Women carrying small children could be seen at the front of the group on the bridge. Guatemala's government later issued a statement saying some people were using children to try to secure entry and offered to repatriate migrants who failed.Mexican officials have so far controlled the situation more successfully than when a large caravan sought to force its way through at the same crossing in October 2018.
After being kept out, most migrants withdrew to Tecun Uman to await the arrival of the main caravan behind them.
About 400 of the migrants who entered Guatemala this week have been sent home, its government said.
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Mexico Will Crack Down on Central American Caravan Bound for US
By Jack Davis
Published January 17, 2020 at 8:10am
As yet another caravan of migrants begins its trek north, Mexico is vowing that this time, it will stop the migrants before they reach their goal of the U.S. border.
The BBC and The New York Times each estimated the group contained "hundreds" of migrants as it left Honduras on Tuesday and began to cross Guatemala.
Reuters estimated the caravan had 2,200 people.
Although the group was initially met with tear gas at the Honduras-Guatemala border, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said Wednesday his nation would allow Hondurans in the country if they had proper identification.
He warned, however, that Mexico would "do everything in their powers to stop" the group.
The comment came following a meeting with Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.
After pressure from President Donald Trump, Mexico has said it will tighten enforcement when it comes to migrant caravans heading for the U.S.
Mexican Interior Minister Olga Sรกnchez Cordero said Mexican officials would seek to assist Hondurans who want to remain in Mexico.
"Mexico is not only a transit country," she told reporters. "In no way we have transit visas or safe passage."
She said visas will not be issued to allow the migrants to move through Mexico.
"That's very clear," she said, according to Reuters.
Itsmania Platero, a freelance journalist and self-described "human right[s] defender," said the migrants will not clear Mexico.
"The truth is, it is going to be impossible for them to reach the United States," Platero told The Associated Press. "The Mexican police have a large contingent and they are going to catch all the migrants without documents and they will be detained and returned to their home countries."
Although the strategy of a massed caravan trying to cross the border is reminiscent of caravans that attempted to slam against the U.S. border in 2018 and 2019, Mark A. Morgan, acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner, said Tuesday a lot has changed in recent months, according to the Washington Examiner.
He said Trump's policy to work with Mexico and Central American nations is reducing the flow of illegal immigrants.
"This is not a political statement, it's because I believe it and because it is true: The success that I just outlined is absolutely a direct result of this president's strategies," he said.
"We are succeeding in addressing this crisis."
Also Tuesday, Morgan cited two statistics he said show Trump's policies are making a difference,
He said daily apprehensions, which hit 4,600 in May, are now down to about 1,300. The 21-day average for the number of apprehensions is now below 1,000, down 78 percent.
"That's a dramatic reduction," he said.
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