Migrant caravan’s approach worries US
US Secretary of State accuses migrant caravan of using women and children as shields
As thousands of Central American migrants inched closer to Mexico’s southern border, US 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.
Mexican authorities, in ■ search of a way both to satisfy US President Donald Trump’s demand that they deter the migrants and to avoid violating international law, have asked the United Nations (UN) to set up a migrant processing centre near their southern border.
Pompeo said he welcomed that plan. Before leaving by plane, Pompeo said four policemen had been injured, and he blamed the caravan for using women and children as shields.
In response to the deployment of Mexican police, Trump tweeted, “Thank you Mexico,” on Thursday, just hours after threatening to deploy the US 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 programmes aimed at deterring migration.
Plight of a people
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.
Migrant caravans have been occurring for years, offering a safe way for migrants to make their way north, while also intending to draw attention to the plight of the region’s more desperate people.
Although there might be 3,000 or 4,000 people in this caravan, it’s dwarfed by the more than 450,000 people who have been apprehended along the US-Mexico border this year.
Pompeo’s trip to Mexico was planned before the caravan, but on Friday he referred to it as “the largest issue that we face today.”