Migrant caravan struggles ahead in Mexico toward US

A caravan of Central American migrants on the move in Mexico is traveling closer to the southern borders of the United States despite warnings by President Donald Trump’s administration to block its way and attempts by Mexico to frustrate its advance.

The migrants continued their march toward the US by hitchhiking and walking along highways on Saturday.

Reports said the caravan of an estimated 4,000 Central American migrants had now advanced into the Mexican state of Veracruz, just one Mexican state away from the southern US state of Texas.

The caravan continued its travel to the US on foot after Mexico canceled a plan to provide the migrant group with transportation.

Veracruz Governor Miguel Angel Yunes had announced on Friday that authorities in the Mexican state would be providing not only humanitarian assistance to the migrants but also dozens of passenger buses to quickly transport them to the country’s capital, Mexico City, “or to the place they wish.”

“It is very important that they be able to move soon from Veracruz toward another place,” Yunes said in a video message. “For that reason, we also offered them transportation so that, if possible, tomorrow… they may be able to go to Mexico City or to the place they wish.”

In a second video released on Saturday, however, the governor reneged on the transportation offer, claiming that Mexico City’s water system was undergoing maintenance and seven million of its people would be without water over the weekend if the migrants were shuttled to the capital.

“They’re playing with our dignity. If you could have only seen the people’s happiness last night when they told us that we were going by bus, and today we’re not,” said Gerardo Perez, a 20-year-old migrant who was tired from the trip.

Saira Cabrera, a 36-year-old migrant traveling with her husband and two children, aged 7 and 13, also expressed frustration about the cancelation of the transportation plan.

“It’s a letdown that first they told us yes, and then they said no. People are mad and confused,” she said.

Later in the day, caravan organizers released a statement in rejection of the Veracruz governor’s decision, demanding that he fulfill his offer of buses to Mexico City.

The Mexican government had ignored the migrants’ request for buses to the capital days earlier before they reached Veracruz.

The Central American migrants say they are escaping from violence, corruption, and unemployment at home. They believe traveling in caravans would better ensure their safety while passing through violence-hit Mexico before reaching US soil.

Trump has called the Central American migrants a security threat, ordering the deployment of thousands of troops to the Mexican border to contain them.

PressTV-Trump: 15,000 US troops ready to repel migrant caravan

US President Donald Trump says he is ready to send thousands of more troops to the border with Mexico in order to prevent a large group of immigrants from entering the US.

More than 7,000 active duty troops have been deployed to the US states of Texas, Arizona, and California.

The US president has also suggested that the US troopers deployed to the southwest borders can shoot at migrants if the latter threw stones or rocks at them.

Trump also plans to sign an order “next week” that could lead to the large-scale detention of migrants crossing the southern border and bar anyone caught crossing illegally from claiming asylum.

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.

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