US border a long way off for migrant caravan angering Trump
Matías Romero, Mexico, (MILLAT ONLINE):The hundreds of Central Americans in the “Way of the Cross” migrant caravan have infuriated President Donald Trump, but they are not moving very fast — if at all — and remain far from the US border.
As Trump vowed Tuesday to send troops to secure the southern US border, the caravan was camped out for the third straight day in the town of Matias Romero, in southern Mexico, more than 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles) from the United States.
The just over 1,000 migrants who currently make up the caravan were planning to spend their fourth night here Tuesday, sleeping in parks and athletic fields with their belongings beside them in plastic bags and suitcases.
Most have been sleeping on the ground on large blankets or cardboard boxes. A few have small tents and sleeping bags.
“We just set up a little camp to feel a bit more comfortable and sleep. The next day, we’re back to worrying about what will happen next,” said Nixon Gomez, a Honduran making the slow trek with the caravan.
The group has paused here to meet with Mexican immigration authorities, who have been caught on the receiving end of three straight days of Twitter diatribes from Trump.
The activists organizing the caravan say the Mexican government’s National Migration Institute (INM) is offering to help the migrants get humanitarian visas to stay in Mexico, since many are fleeing brutal gang violence in Central America, home to the some of the highest murder rates in the world.
But the Mexican authorities are also making a desperate plea, the activists say.
“They are saying, ‘Please, spread out, we need there to be less of you,'” an activist from the group People Without Borders (Pueblo sin Fronteras) told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because he says he has received death threats for helping the migrants.
“It’s because of Trump. There’s a lot of pressure on Mexico. They’ve told us behind closed doors that if this stays as big as it is, with all the media coverage, they may take action.”