Trump Pushed Mexico to Block Its Border. A Migrant Caravan Tests It.

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“Dozens of National Guard —” I’m on the Guatemala-Mexico border. This bridge is the main crossing for migrant caravans on their way to the United States. But this group, which left Honduras in mid-January, is about to hit a barrier. And they’re still over 1,000 miles from the U.S. border. “Mexico shouldn’t allow millions of people to try and enter our country.” Last year, President Trump threatened Mexico with import tariffs if the country didn’t seal its southern border. So Mexico deployed a newly formed security force to block migrants from entering. Now this wave of some 4,000 migrants is putting enforcement here to its latest test. I wanted to see how Mexico would handle the challenge. What I found is a country, taking a harder line in response to U.S. pressure, but that is also struggling to completely secure its southern border. After pushing back the migrants, Mexican authorities start to let small groups through to register with Migration. It’s a legal obligation, and also a way of breaking up the caravan. Once in Mexico, the first thing migrants hear is a warning from the U.S. repeated over a loudspeaker. And then, an offer to send them home. By the end of the day, close to 2,000 migrants had registered to stay in Mexico, many with the goal of some day still reaching the U.S. Back on the Guatemala side, more are waiting their turn. I meet Alex Valladares. He was actually deported from the U.S. last year. He had lived there illegally for three years. Now he hopes that if he registers, Mexico would let him stay and work legally. But what he doesn’t know is that most of the caravaners who registered will end up deported home. It’s a new day, and more migrants have arrived on the border, undeterred and ready to cross into Mexico. This time, a few petition Mexican authorities on behalf of the group, appealing for compassion to let them continue the caravan. But Mexico doesn’t budge. So the group turns to Plan B. Border security are waiting for them on the other side of the Suchiate river. The standoff ends with the migrants staying put in Guatemala. and waiting for an opportunity to try to cross again. This opportunity comes day later. Hundreds of migrants walk across the river at a different location, unchallenged. It remains unclear how Mexican authorities will deal with the border breach. But for now, they appear to be caught between persistent migrants from the south, and mounting political pressure from the north.



Source : Nytimes