Caravan’s migrants protest in Mexico

MEXICO CITY — The remnants of a caravan of Central American migrants protested in northern Mexico on Monday, even as once again they drew tweets from President Donald Trump.

The migrants are demanding better treatment, and many are planning to request asylum either in the United States or Mexico.

“We are asking the government and migration authorities to respect the right to seek asylum,” said caravan organizer Irineo Mujica. “Those who request asylum shouldn’t be criminalized. It is a right. … Families shouldn’t be separated or punished.”

The approximately 600 migrants arrived in the northern city of Hermosillo aboard trains over the weekend.

Trump tweeted Monday that “I have instructed the Secretary of Homeland Security not to let these large Caravans of people into our Country.”

“Mexico, whose laws on immigration are very tough, must stop people from going through Mexico and into the U.S. We may make this a condition of the new NAFTA Agreement,” Trump tweeted, referring to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In response, Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Videgaray tweeted, “It would be unacceptable to condition the NAFTA negotiations on immigration actions that are outside that framework.”

Many of the migrants say they are fleeing gang violence and extortion in Honduras and El Salvador.

The U.S. government “should be more understanding of the women and children in this caravan … and the dangers they face in their countries,” Mujica said.