México pushes back Migrant Caravan!
Tapachula, Mexico, Dec 3 (EFE).- By Juan Manuel Blanco
A caravan of over 1,500 migrants that set out from Mexico’s southern border on Tuesday faced push back by Mexican authorities from leaving the state of Chiapas, amid pressure from United States President-elect Donald Trump for Mexico to control the flow of migrants.
The contingent left the municipality of Huixtla at 5:00 am at a slow pace, some on bicycles flanked by the National Guard and municipal police.
The migrants, mostly Venezuelans, told EFE that since their arrival in Huixtla, authorities from the Migration National Institute (INM) have been following them along the route.
On Tuesday, the INM tried to detain a family but were stopped by the migrants themselves.
The foreigners call for sympathy from President Claudia Sheinbaum, who said to Trump in a phone call last week that the caravans “will no longer arrive” at the border with the US, as the president-elect has promised 25% tariffs on Mexican products if she does not stop what Trump called “the invasion” of migrants and drugs.
“The president of Mexico should give us the support to go to Mexico City, where there are more resources to work, and to wait calmly for the ‘CBP One’ appointment, to apply for asylum in the US because other states are more dangerous,” said Venezuelan Genaro Cárdenas.
Cárdenas travels by bicycle with a group of compatriots who hope to reach their destination despite the obstacles and pressure from immigration agents to return them to the southern border.
Mexico wants migrants in the south
The president has promised a humanitarian migration strategy with an industrial center in southern Mexico while claiming that daily encounters with migrants at the US border have fallen by 75% since December 2023.
However, migrants in the caravan are not so enthusiastic.
For instance, Bryan Joan, who is travlling from Venezuela, said he felt sad because the government was not supporting them and not allowing them to transit to Mexico City.
“There is no work in Tapachula, and Migration (authorities) are telling us that they are going to help us, which is a total lie, and people are getting in the vans to go back, and they are being held for up to three days in the migration station,” he said.
Venezuelan Antonio José also called on the Mexican government to change its migration policy on the ground to treat people more humanely and “not deceive them.”
Meanwhile, groups from the Mexican government’s National System for Integral Family Development and Doctors Without Borders are providing medical care and treatment to migrants with foot injuries.
Fabiola Flores, from El Salvador, told EFE that during her passage on the Huixtla-Villa Comaltitlán road, “there are about 20 injured people with blisters, dehydration and wounds.”
“We all come in peace, we don’t want to cause public disorder, we just want to get to our destination and rest. The truth is that (the authorities) are trying to intimidate us, to make us stop walking,” she said. EFE
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