THOUSANDS OF MIGRANTS RUSH ON BRIDGE BETWEEN MEXICO AND GUATEMALA ENROUTE TO US
TECUN UMAN, GUATEMALA — Thousands of Central American migrants were blocked by Mexican riot police as they flooded onto a bridge linking Guatemala to Mexico in a bid to reach the United States.
Members of the caravan of more than 3,000 migrants had earlier burst through a Guatemalan border fence and rushed onto the bridge over the Suchiate River, defying Mexican entreaties for an orderly crossing and US President Donald Trump’s threats of retaliation.
But they were met by a wall of police with riot shields on the Mexican side of the bridge.
Open to refugees
About 50 managed to push their way through before officers unleashed pepper spray and the rest retreated, joining the sea of humanity on the bridge.
Police and immigration agents began letting small groups of 10, 20 or 30 people through the gates if they wanted to apply for refugee status.
A Mexican marine official with a loudspeaker told migrants they would be taken in trucks to “a humanitarian attention center” in Tapachula in the Mexican state of Chiapas, but did not say when.
Late Friday, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto said the migrants had “tried to enter Mexican territory irregularly, attacking and even hurting some elements of the Federal Police.”
“Mexico does not permit and will not permit entry into its territory in an irregular fashion, much less in a violent fashion,” Peña said in a national address.
Mexican officials said only those with passports and valid visas would be let in immediately.
Migrants who decide to cross illegally and are caught will be detained and deported.
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez tweeted late Friday that he asked Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales for permission to send Honduran civil protection personnel to the bridge to help.
Hernandez and Morales are expected to meet in Guatemala early Saturday to discuss the situation.
US reaction
Trump said he was monitoring its response and threatened to close the US border if Mexico didn’t stop the caravan.
He later tweeted a video of Mexican police deploying at the Guatemalan border and wrote: “Thank you Mexico, we look forward to working with you!”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Peña and Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Videgaray in Mexico City on Friday with the caravan high on the agenda.
At a news conference with Videgaray, Pompeo called illegal migration a “crisis” and emphasized “the importance of stopping this flow before it reaches the US border.”
Mexican sovereignty
“Mexico will make its decision,” Pompeo said. “Its leaders and its people will decide the best way to achieve what I believe are our shared objectives.”
On Thursday, Videgaray asked the United Nations for help processing what Mexico expects to be a large number of asylum requests.
Videgaray noted that 1 million people transit the border legally every day, and about $1 million in commerce crosses every minute.—