The thousands-strong migrant caravan attempted to force its way into Mexico from Guatemala but was mostly blocked by federal police officers and forced to sleep on a bridge that links the two countries.
The standoff took place on Oct. 19 after the caravan tore down a fence and rushed the bridge, hoping to get through into Mexico. Migrants have stated that their intention is to illegally enter the United States after traversing Mexico.
About 50 managed to push their way through before officers unleashed pepper spray and the rest retreated.
Some chose to leap from the bridge into the Suchiate River, which separates the two countries, and swim to the Mexican side. Mexico has said that anyone without proper papers would be deported but didn’t appear to be enforcing that law. Officials have also said that there is no such thing as a transit visa for those wishing to cross Mexico to reach the United States, but also said that anyone who enters Mexico would be able to travel freely.
Small Groups Let Through, Others Jump
“In Mexico, we have the rule of law, and we shall apply—enforce the law, but there will also be a humanitarian way that we will think about the migrant in the first place,” said Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray, minister of foreign affairs, to reporters in Mexico City. He noted that Mexico has asked the United Nations to get involved.“We are quickly reaching a point, which appears to be a moment of crisis, record numbers of migrants,” added U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The pair spoke after a private meeting, and Pompeo also met with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
On the bridge, some of the migrants were hanging from the closed gate that represents the border at Tacun Uman, Guatemala, and Mexico, wailing and saying they were hungry.
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 approached the gate and told migrants they would be taken in trucks to “a humanitarian attention center” in Tapachula, a border city in the Mexican state of Chiapas. But the official did not say when this would happen.
Other migrants used rafts and rope to cross the rushing river, avoiding the bridge altogether.
‘Attacking’
Late Friday night, Nieto said in an address to the nation that a large group of 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,” he said. Four federal police officers were injured by the attack.
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández said via Twitter on Oct. 19 that he had asked permission from Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales to send Honduran civil protection personnel to the bridge to help the migrants.
“I also asked authorization to hire ground transportation for anyone who wants to return and an air bridge for special cases of women, children, the elderly, and the sick,” Hernández tweeted.
Hernández and Morales were expected to meet in Guatemala early Saturday to discuss the situation.
Trump Will Send Military
U.S. President Donald Trump has been closely tracking the caravan, sharing thoughts on Twitter and in press conferences.He’s threatened to withdraw all aid from Honduras and Guatemala if they don’t start dealing with the mass of migrants that have been illegally entering the United States in recent years, and said he would send the U.S. military to America’s southern border if this particular caravan was able to reach it.
“So as of this moment, I thank Mexico. I hope they continue. If that doesn’t work out, we’re calling up the military—not the [National] Guard. We’re calling up the military. And we’re going to have the military stationed. They’re not coming into this country. They might as well turn back. They’re not coming into this country,” he said.
