Central American migrants, moving in a caravan through Mexico, climb up on a wagon of a freight train before embarking on a new leg of their travels, in Tlaquepaque, in Jalisco state, Mexico April 19, 2018. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido
By Lizbeth Diaz
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A group of 50 Central American migrants who set out from southern Mexico in late March have reached the U.S. border, having endured the long journey despite threats by President Donald Trump to secure the border with National Guard personnel.
Since peaking at around 1,500 people, the so-called migrant “caravan” has dwindled under pressure from Trump and Mexican migration authorities, who vowed to separate those migrants with a right to stay in Mexico from those who did not.
Some of those migrants began arriving in the Mexican border city of Tijuana on Wednesday and have requested asylum in the United States.
“Since yesterday, some began to cross into the United States to turn themselves in from Tijuana and request asylum. We understand more of (the migrants) will do the same,” said Jose Maria Garcia, director of Juventud 2000, an organization dedicated to assisting migrants.
He said more migrants, many of whom are stranded in Mexico’s central states, are expected to arrive in the coming days.
“We will continue to receive them and it will be up to them if they stay in the country or leave,” Garcia said.
Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala are among the most violent and impoverished countries in the Americas, prompting many people to leave in search of a better life.
Every year, thousands of migrants -especially Central Americans- venture to cross Mexico and reach the United States, often risking their lives along the way.
(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Writing by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Darren Schuettler)
Jerry Brown should be arrested on grounds he is devisive against the People of the USA, destroying their peace and safety and threatening to cause them harm from these INVADERS! They carry diseases and unvetted criminal backgrounds, as well. WHAT DO WE NEED MORE OF THAT HERE, FOR? Send them back home!
We can’t take any more Migrates, we’re on overload now. No Amnesty, Close the Border and Enforce the Law.
I live about an hour from the Tijuana border. The BIG problem is that California governor Jerry Brown is bent that he is making California a Sanctuary state, and has invited everyone and anyone in, and he’s refusing to abide by the law. He’s forbid law enforcement to enforce the law at the border.