AP Photo/Felix Marquez
President Donald Trump has continuously assailed a group of over 1,000 migrants traveling through Mexico in a days-long series of tweets this week.
In his tweets, Trump has criticized Mexico for what he saw as its failure to stop migration, as well as bashed former President Barack Obama for what Trump viewed as his failings on immigration policy.
The so-called caravan of migrants, an annual procession organized by the activist group Pueblo Sin Frontera, or People without Borders, is meant to raise awareness about the conditions those migrants face in Mexico, where criminal groups and government officials both prey on vulnerable travelers.
The Mexican government said Monday it would break up the caravan by Wednesday, according to Adolfo Flores, a BuzzFeed correspondent traveling with the caravan. A Mexican immigration official told Flores that the decision was not a response to Trump’s tirade, but the US president appeared to take some credit on Tuesday.
“Now the caravan, which is over a thousand people coming in from Honduras, thought they were going to just walk right through Mexico and right through the border,” Trump said at the White House. “I said, ‘I hope you’re going to tell that caravan not to get up to the border,’ and I think they’re doing that.”
Below, you can some of the migrants who drew Trump’s ire:
The migrants have been traveling through southern Mexico since the end of March. The trek, called the Viacrucis Migrante, or Migrant Stations of the Cross, takes place every year around Easter and is meant to provide safe passage for undocumented immigrants.
Pueblo Sin Frontera/Facebook
Source: BuzzFeed, Foreign Policy
“Going alone is risky. You’re risking an accident, getting jumped by robbers, and even your life,” Mateo Juan, a 29-year-old on his third attempt to reach the US, told BuzzFeed. “All of that, and then you don’t get to the United States. The caravan is slower but you know you’re going to get there safely.”
Pueblo Sin Frontera/Facebook
Source: BuzzFeed
Some in the group intend to reunite with family members already in Mexico, while others aim to reach the US, requesting asylum there or slipping across the border undetected. A Salvadoran activist traveling with the group as a representative of Pueblo Sin Fronteras said the organization had carried out dozens of such trips over the past 15 years. The Mexican government said it has taken place since 2010.
AP Photo/Felix Marquez
Source: BuzzFeed, The Wall Street Journal, The Associated Press, Reuters
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- Trump says Mexico has ‘the absolute power’ to stop ‘Caravans’ of migrants — here’s what he’s missing
- After days of raging against migrants, Trump says he’s sending the military to guard the US-Mexico border
- ‘God knows we don’t like him’: Mexico’s former ambassador to China explains how Mexico —and the world — reacted to the first year of Trump
