News / Mexico

Migrant caravan heading north in Mexico despite pressure

Sunday, 28 October 2018 7:01 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 28 October 2018 10:04 AM ]

Honduran migrants taking part in a caravan heading to the United States wait at the road as they leave Arriaga on their way to San Pedro Tapanatepec, in southern Mexico, on October 27, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

A caravan of thousands of migrants from Central America continues to make its way toward the United States despite Mexican efforts to hinder its advance under US pressure.

The caravan, which was formed about two weeks ago in northern Honduras and which has been moving at an average speed of 30 to 40 kilometers a day, was still a long distance from the US border on Saturday.

It was moving nonetheless.

US President Donald Trump has pressed Mexico to prevent the caravan from reaching the border.

Under US pressure, Mexico has reportedly offered temporary work permits and prospectively other benefits to the caravan members on the condition that they remain in the country’s southern states.

Just before Saturday dawn, Mexican police stopped the caravan on one of the rural roads and urged them to apply for refugee status in Mexico rather than continue toward the US.

Last Friday, officers reportedly clashed with the asylum seekers when they forced their way across a river separating Mexico and Guatemala.

Meanwhile, Trump has ordered the deployment of US troops to the US-Mexico border to prevent the caravan from entering the US.

PressTV-US to send more troops to Mexican border: Trump

US President Donald Trump says he is sending an increased number of troops to the Mexican border to stop a caravan of immigrants from entering the country.

Trump has made his hard-line stance on immigration an integral part of his presidency and has promised to build a wall along the US-Mexican border to curb the flow of migrants from Mexico and Central America.

He has vowed that if his party maintained the House majority in the upcoming congressional elections scheduled for November 6, he would change US laws so as to stop illegal immigrants from entering the country.

Some critics say the attention given to the caravan by the Trump administration is a scare tactic used to gain votes for the Republicans.

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