Immigrants march, mourn
A caravan of Central American migrants pauses to mourn a fellow traveler who died in a road accident.
HUIXTLA, Mexico — Still more than 1,000 miles — and likely far further — from their goal of reaching the United States, a caravan of Central American migrants briefly halted their arduous journey Tuesday to mourn a fellow traveler killed in a road accident, and to rest weary, blistered feet and try to heal illnesses and injuries suffered on the road.
Thousands awakened as the sun rose over a makeshift encampment in a rainsoaked square in the far southern Mexican town of Huixtla, a chorus of coughs rattling from the shapeless forms wrapped in blankets and bits of plastic sheeting.
Sunburned from the daytime heat and chilled by the overnight cold, many appeared to be developing respiratory problems.
Edwin Enrique Jimenez Flores, 48, of Tela, Honduras, had one of those persistent coughs, but still vowed to reach the U.S. to seek work.
A mobile medical clinic truck pulled into the square in the morning to offer the migrants treatment. Municipal worker Daniel Lopez said the town was offering food and water as well as basic painkillers and rehydration liquids, and some children were running high temperatures.
“Today we won’t move. Today is a day of mourning,” said activist Irineo Mujica of the Pueblo Sin Fronteras group, which is aiding the migrants. He added that they would leave before dawn Wednesday headed for Mapastepec, about 38 miles up the coast.
Such caravans have taken place regularly over the years, generally without great fanfare, but U.S. President Donald Trump has seized on the phenomenon this year and made it a rallying call for his Republican base ahead of Nov. 6 midterm elections.
Trump has blamed Democrats for what he said were weak immigration laws and on Monday claimed that MS-13 gang members and unknown “Middle Easterners” were hiding among the migrants.
On Tuesday, however, Trump acknowledged that he has no proof that people of Middle Eastern descent have joined the caravan.
“There’s no proof of anything. But there could very well be,” Trump said in remarks in the Oval Office.
His remarks appeared to be at odds with the Department of Homeland Security, which tweeted Tuesday that the caravan includes people from all over the world, and with Vice President Mike Pence, who said earlier Tuesday that it is “inconceivable” that people from the Middle East have not joined the caravan.
The caravan, estimated to include more than 7,000 people, has advanced about 45 miles since crossing the border from Guatemala and still faces more than 1,000 miles to the closest U.S. border crossing at McAllen, Texas — and more than twice that to reach the distant Tijuana-San Diego crossing.
Many in the caravan have low odds of qualifying for asylum even if they do make it, as the United States does not consider things like fleeing from poverty or gang violence as a qualifying factor.
Nearly 1,700 from the current caravan have already dropped out and applied for asylum in Mexico, Mexican authorities said, and 500 have decided to return to Honduras.