Over 7,000 migrants trek to US border
Thousands of Central American migrants resumed an arduous trek toward the US border, with many bristling at suggestions there could be terrorists among them and saying the caravan is being used for political ends by US President Donald Trump.
The caravan’s numbers have grown as they walk and hitch rides through hot and humid weather, and the United Nations estimated it currently comprises some 7,200 people, “many of whom intend to continue the march north”.
However, they were still at least 1,830km from the nearest border crossing – McAllen, Texas – and the length of their journey could more than double if they go to Tijuana_ San Diego, the destination of another caravan earlier this year.
That one shrank significantly as it moved through Mexico, and only a tiny fraction – about 200 of the 1,200 in the group – reached the California border.
The same could well happen this time around as some turn back, splinter off on their own or decide to take their chances on asylum in Mexico – as 1,128 have done so far, according to the country’s Interior Department.
While such caravans have occurred semi-regularly over the years, this one has become a particularly hot topic ahead of the Nov 6 midterm elections in the US, and an activist travelling with the group accused Trump of using it to stir up his Republican base.
“It is a shame that a president so powerful uses this caravan for political ends,” said Irineo Mujica of the group Pueblo Sin Fronteras – People Without Borders – which works to provide humanitarian aid to migrants.
Some have questioned the timing so close to the vote and whether some political force was behind it, though by all appearances it began as a group of about 160 who decided to band together in Honduras for protection and snowballed as they moved north.
“No one is capable of organising this many people,” Mujica said, adding there are only two forces driving them: “hunger and death”.