‘Moment of crisis’ in caravan of migrants
The ‘moment of crisis’ said to be approaching
MEXICO CITY — As thousands of Central American migrants inched closer to Mexico’s southern border, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with top officials here, hoping to avert the caravan before it reaches the United States.
By Friday morning, at least a thousand migrants had arrived in the city of Tecun Uman, in northern Guatemala, and by early afternoon, they began walking across a bridge connecting the two countries, even as Mexico deployed additional police along the border. A huge group waited to be processed by Mexican authorities, punctuated by moments of disorder, as police fired tear gas into the crowd.
“We are quickly reaching a point which appears to be a moment of crisis” with the flow of Central American migrants, Pompeo said in a joint appearance with Mexico’s foreign minister, Luis Videgaray.
Police block border
Mexican authorities, in search of a way both to satisfy President Donald Trump’s demand that they deter the migrants and to avoid violating international law, have asked the United Nations to set up a migrant processing center near their southern border. Pompeo said in a statement that he welcomed that plan.
During the joint appearance Friday, he added: “The way you will handle this is your sovereign decision.”
But as Trump said at a rally on Thursday that the midterm elections would hinge in part on the caravan, it was clear that U.S. pressure on Mexico would continue.
The members of the caravan appeared unlikely to wait for the United Nations. On Friday, many migrants approached border crossings where Guatemalan police officers appeared prepared to block their passage, but by the early afternoon they broke through a fence on the Guatemalan side, forcing their way to the Mexican side of the bridge. Mexican authorities used riot gear to dispel some of the migrants, telling them to be prepared to wait for processing.
In response to the deployment of Mexican police, Trump tweeted, “Thank you Mexico,” on Thursday, just hours after threatening to deploy the U.S. military and “close our southern border” — potentially upending a recent trade deal with Mexico and Canada.
His threats have kept pace with the migrants’ journey. As they were passing though Guatemala, he threatened to withdraw aid from Central American nations if they did not stop the migrants. Paradoxically, much of that aid is used in programs aimed at deterring migration.
Call for more programs
Speaking at the joint news conference, Videgaray said the Mexican government would enforce the country’s immigration laws, “in a humanitarian form, thinking first of the interest of the migrant.”
Videgaray also emphasized the need for the United States to promote antipoverty programs in Central America, calling a lack of economic development among the “major reasons for migration.”
Even with additional border security personnel, it is unlikely that Mexico could detain the thousands of migrants who appear likely to cross into the country in the coming days. Typically, migrants use rafts to float across informal border crossings.