Ordering 5,200 U.S. troops to reinforce the Southern U.S. border, 72-year-old President Donald Trump promised to “harden” the porous Mexican border. Mexican authorities have deployed thousand of Federal Police to the Mexican border with Guatemala to discourage caravans of refugees from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala from crossing into Mexico. Wading through the murky Noti7 channel, one refugee drowned from a hovering Federal helicopter churning up the water. Mexico stepped up with federal security to prevent the immigrant caravans that swelled last week to over 7,000 pedestrian refugees. Once 7,000 strong, the main caravan has around 4,000 refugees, continuing to trudge toward Tijuana, Mexico, hoping to breach the U.S. border. Caravan goers on the Guatemalan border confronted Mexican authorities with rocks, bottles and sticks before crossing a key bridge.
Another caravan in smaller numbers approached Ciudad Hildalgo, hoping to continue to march toward the U.S. border. Still 1,000 miles from Tijuana, Trump ordered U.S. troops to harden the U.S.-Mexican border. What White House and U.S. media don’t get is that the caravan’s size continues to shrink as it approaches the U.S. border. Once caravans reach the Mexican border, they typically disintegrate, where certain refugees pay “coyotes” to bring them across the Mexican-U.S. frontier into border-states like California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. “This is an invasion of our country and our military is waiting for you!” tweeted Trump. Immigrants like Victor Agquetta, 54, talked of sleeping on the international bridge between Tecun Uman, Guatemala and Ciudad Hildalgo, Mexico. Some migrants find transportation from sympathetic Mexicans trying to help them to the border.
Mayor Ramiro Nolasco of the town of Zanatepec said he arranged for transportation for Central American migrants seeking to get to the U.S.-Mexican border. “We are helping our brothers from other countries with food, water and transportation,” Nolasco said. “It’s going to be very little compared to what they need,” referring to the limited resources needed to advance caravans toward the U.S.-Mexican border. Some migrants, exhausted for days on the road turn back to Honduras, El Salvador and other Central American countries. From exhaustion and hunger, many migrants originally hoping to make it to the U.S.-Mexico border give up, reducing the once 7,200 strong human-chain to now under migrants. With all the hype from the Nov. 8 Midterm elections, there’s been a lot of hyped about the national security threat posed by the migrant caravan.
As the Midterm election approaches next week, Trump hopes the caravan galvanizes GOP voters to stop Democrats from taking over the House and Senate. While there’s less chance of taking the Senate, there’s reason to think the House could change hands Nov. 8. Highlighting the caravan appears to be backfiring, as more and more migrants call it quits. “Of the friends that I have been with, all want to go back,” said Hasiel Isamar Hernandez, a 29-year-old Honduran. “I thought it would be easier,” said 31-year-old Teodozo Melendez. Hoping to join relatives in Houston, Melendez decided to go back. “The next time I’m going to need a “coyote” or smuggler, realizing that the caravan couldn’t get her to the U.S.-Mexico border. Mexican authorities have encountered violent stone-and-bottle-throwing migrants resisting attempts to derail the existing caravan.
Mexico’s Interior Minister Secretary Alfonso Navareta Prida confirmed migrants violence behavior toward Mexican officials, trying to storm the border. Mexican officials don’t have the resources to stop migrant caravans, sometimes carrying heavily-armed MS13 gang members. Trump has warned about unsavory characters crossing the border, pleading with Defense Secretary James Mattis to reinforce the U.S. border. Mattis agreed to send 5,200 active-duty troops to protect the U.S. border from migrant inflows. Hundreds of migrants from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have applied for refugee status in Mexico, apparently giving up attempts to make it to the U.S. Unlike the U.S. and Mexco, Central American countries allow migrants to pass freely from one country to the next looking for work Mexico has put down the hammer on migrants as much as possible.
As the caravan continues to dwindle, the White House can expect far less migrants making it to the U.S. border. U.S. officials have warned anyone approaching the U.S. border that the government won’t allow free entry into the U.S. Salvadoran Foreign Minister Liduvina Margarim said it’s no longer safe to travel by caravan to the U.S. border. “This route is not safe, you will not be able to enter the United States like you think,” warning caravan migrants to reconsider the destination. If migrants have money, they can no doubt pay off “coyotes” at the border to thread a needle and get them through to the U.S. U.S. officials warned migrants that asylum requests could be met with stiff opposition, potentially subjecting migrants to U.S. arrest-and-deportation. Whatever’s left of the 4,000-member caravan by the time it hits the U.S. border, it’s bound scatter even more.
