Growing Migrant Caravan Resumes Trek North
A migrant caravan that began in Honduras and has swelled to a few thousand as it's traveled north through Guatemala resumed its trek north into southern Mexico towards the U.S. yesterday after getting around Mexican agents who'd tried to stop them at their border with Guatemala. After crossing a river on the border they continued north, and were receiving food, water and clothing from Mexicans who wanted to help them. The Hondurans have said they are fleeing widespread gang violence as well as poverty in their country, hoping to reach the U.S. or Mexico.
President Trump has been speaking and tweeting about the caravan, and had praised Mexico for trying to keep the migrants from crossing. He has said that he will bring out the military to stop them if necessary. He tweeted again about it yesterday, saying, "Full efforts are being made to stop the onslaught of illegal aliens from crossing our Souther (sic) Border. People have to apply for asylum in Mexico first, and if they fail to do that, the U.S. will turn them away."
Mexico’s Interior Department said that federal and state authorities were providing assistance to migrants, including legal counseling for those who applied for asylum. Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he has suggested to Trump that the U.S., Canada and Mexico work on an agreement to invest in development in Central America and southern Mexico, saying, "In this way we confront the phenomenon of migration, because he who leaves his town does not leave for pleasure but out of necessity."
(Pulse Networks)