Caravan migrants’ mood turns sombre as they approach US border
The 400 travellers from Central America weigh staying in Mexico or seeking asylum in the US
They have to pass the ‘credible fear’ test … a lot will depend on how well they can articulate their case IMMIGRATION RIGHTS LAWYER Al Otro Lado rights organisation
Hondurans, Guatemalans and Salvadorans who drew the wrath of President Donald Trump in a month-long caravan to the United States border will have to make hard decisions on whether to risk being deported all the way home by trying to cross into the US, or to build a life in Mexico.
After angry Twitter posts from Mr Trump, US border authorities said some people associated with the caravan had been caught trying to slip through the fence, and encouraged the rest to hand themselves in to authorities.
“We are a very welcoming country but, just like your own house, we expect everyone to enter through our front door and answer questions honestly,” said Rodney Scott, the San Diego chief patrol agent.
Many of the 400 travellers who arrived in the border city of Tijuana by bus over the past couple of days said they intended to legally seek asylum in San Diego. But lawyers advising the group gave them stark advice – not all applications will be successful.
After the gruelling journey, a sombre mood took hold as the reality sank in that many of them would be separated from their families. Lovers and parents with older sons and daughters could be forced to split up.
At venues around Tijuana, US immigration lawyers working for free listened on Saturday to harrowing tales of life in the immigrants’ home countries.
Death threats from local gangs, the murder of family members, retaliatory rape and political persecution at home prompted them to flee, migrants and lawyers said.
Many of the immigrants who spoke at length with journalists at various points during their trip through Mexico had been short on knowledge of their legal rights but at least 24 recounted detailed stories of facing death threats.
As poor migrants from Central America on a perilous route through Mexico, they feared they could be robbed, raped, arrested or assaulted, so travelling by caravan offered their only protection, they said.
The lawyers advised on which cases had better chances of passing the “credible fear” test required to enter the long and often difficult US asylum process, said the immigrant rights organisation Al Otro Lado (On the Other Side).
“A lot will depend on how well they can articulate their case,” said one of the lawyers.
The rest were advised to stay put in Mexico, which would remove the risk of US authorities flying them thousands of kilometres back home.
“We’ll wait and see,” said Bryan Garcia, from Honduras, sitting with Nicole, 4, while they waited for her mother to come out of a meeting with a lawyer.
Nicole and her mother are from El Salvador. They befriended Mr Garcia on the caravan’s journey and the adults had fallen for each other.
But Mr Garcia will not be asking for asylum – he plans to stay in Tijuana, having already been deported once from the US.
“We’ll just have to try to stay connected,” he said.
Mr Trump has been pressuring Mexico to stop the migrants before they reach the border, linking the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement to Mexican efforts to stem the flow of Central Americans migrants to the United States.
The friction has coincided with high-intensity efforts by US, Canadian and Mexican teams to renegotiate Nafta on Mr Trump’s bidding, with officials saying a deal could be just a few weeks away after months of talks.
Mexico deports tens of thousands of Central Americans every year across its southern border with Guatemala.