Hours after it was reported that the Mexican government was putting an end to the illegal migrant caravan headed through Mexico to the United States, organizer Pueblos Sin Fronteras claimed the caravan would continue.
There were also reporte the caravan would cross into the U.S. from Baja California.
Principalmente de Honduras y Guatemala, migrantes se detienen en algunos puntos de la carretera del #Istmo para pedir apoyo a los automovilistas y poder continuar su camino a Tijuana para cruzar a los EEUU Para lograr el #AmericanDream #Oaxaca #CaravanaMigrante #viacrusis pic.twitter.com/0eetUfXywe
— PLATA (@jlplatafoto) April 2, 2018
Migrantes centroamericanos continúan su camino en la Caravana Migrante 2018 con la intención de lograr el sueño americano y se detuvieron en Tapanatepec para pedir cooperación a los automovilistas para continuar su camino. #Oaxaca #Migracion #EEUU #SabadodeGloria pic.twitter.com/uHnQgVUj6S
— PLATA (@jlplatafoto) March 31, 2018
Video and photos of caravan migrants begging for money in Mexico.
Cómo cambian los tiempos. PFP ya no persigue a los indocumentados, ahora los apoyan. Esto en la estación Matías Romero. pic.twitter.com/ZIrrwtCCAo
— @Escaparatepolitico (@escaparate_oax) April 2, 2018
Video of Mexican authorities feeding the migrants on the caravan. Comment translated, “How the Times change. PFP no longer pursues the undocumented, now support them. This at the station Matías Romero.”
Buzzfeed reporter Adolfo Flores as well as independent reporter Maya Averbuch both reported Monday night that the Mexican government was intervening to stop the caravan.
“Mexican immigration authorities said they plan on disbanding the Central American caravan by Wednesday in Oaxaca. The most vulnerable will get humanitarian visas.”
“BREAKING NEWS: Mexican immigration authorities plan to disband refugee caravan by Wednesday. The most vulnerable will be given humanitarian visas; everyone else can file a petition with the Mexican authorities or will have to leave the country.”
Mexican immigration authorities said they plan on disbanding the Central American caravan by Wednesday in Oaxaca. The most vulnerable will get humanitarian visas.
— Adolfo Flores (@aflores) April 3, 2018
BREAKING NEWS: Mexican immigration authorities plan to disband refugee caravan by Wednesday. The most vulnerable will be given humanitarian visas; everyone else can file a petition with the Mexican authorities or will have to leave the country.
— Maya Averbuch (@mayaaverbuch) April 3, 2018
An hour later Flores reported a spokeswoman for the caravan said the caravan would continue.
“Gina Garibo, an organizer with Pueblos Sin Fronteras, said the caravan was not over. They will continue to travel towards the US with asylum seekers. “We will continue,” Garibo said. “We have to follow through with our promise.”
““At the end of the day these people have the right to ask for asylum,” Garibo said.”
Gina Garibo, an organizer with Pueblos Sin Fronteras, said the caravan was not over. They will continue to travel towards the US with asylum seekers.
“We will continue,” Garibo said. “We have to follow through with our promise.”
— Adolfo Flores (@aflores) April 3, 2018
“At the end of the day these people have the right to ask for asylum,” Garibo said.
— Adolfo Flores (@aflores) April 3, 2018
Another PSF spokesman, Alex Mensing, affirmed the caravan would continue.
“The Caravan bent the Mexican government into providing permission to travel to seek refuge. Don’t be fooled, the government isn’t “disbanding,” it, it’s conceding its participants’ right to apply for asylum without traveling in the shadows. @pjpodesta @PuebloSF @AlOtroLado_Org”
“The organized refugees of the caravan pressureed the Mexican Gov into conceding permission to travel to places where they can seek asylum. They’ll still learn about asylum processes and they’ll still exercise their right to refuge.”
The Caravan bent the Mexican government into providing permission to travel to seek refuge. Don’t be fooled, the government isn’t “disbanding,” it, it’s conceding its participants’ right to apply for asylum without traveling in the shadows.
@pjpodesta @PuebloSF @AlOtroLado_Org https://t.co/JpK6ZHuWzk
— Alex Mensing (@alex_mensing) April 3, 2018
The organized refugees of the caravan pressureed the Mexican Gov into conceding permission to travel to places where they can seek asylum. They’ll still learn about asylum processes and they’ll still exercise their right to refuge.#WelcomeRefugees
@pjpodesta @PuebloSF https://t.co/mIsv5G7hrS
— Alex Mensing (@alex_mensing) April 3, 2018
Mensing also posted a press release by PSF that complained Americans aren’t rolling out the welcome mat for the migrant caravan.
Statement by @PuebloSF from the Refugee Caravan: "We invite all those who envision a world where human rights are honored to join us."#WelcomeRefugees
@pjpodesta @aldea_pjc @AlOtroLado_Org @latinorebels @CentAm_Beauty @hondurassol @wrcommission @LAWGaction @WOLA_org pic.twitter.com/ka4dylL9UV
— Alex Mensing (@alex_mensing) April 3, 2018
Averbuch posted a few photos from the caravan.
+1,000 Central American immigrants headed to the United States on the #Viacrusis #RefugeeCaravan #Mexico pic.twitter.com/l0RZROz7D2
— Maya Averbuch (@mayaaverbuch) March 31, 2018
Members of the #Viacrusis #RefugeeCaravan riding the trains to seek asylum in the U.S. Many were forced to leave their countries. pic.twitter.com/6TmiPWkHoI
— Maya Averbuch (@mayaaverbuch) April 1, 2018
PSF spokesman Rodrigo Abeja told AFP around 300 migrants had split off from the caravan to ‘scout the route ahead’.
…But caravan organizer Rodrigo Abeja alleged Trump’s DACA decision “was already made.”
“This is just a pretense to lay the blame somewhere else. He’s just using our movement, the caravan, as a pretext,” he told AFP from the town of Matias Romero, in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.
He said the group was there meeting with Mexican authorities to decide how to proceed.
Their immediate goal is to reach the central city of Puebla, he said, where US and Mexican legal experts will counsel individual migrants and families from April 5 to 8 to advise them what their options are for seeking asylum or refugee status, either in Mexico or the United States.
Central American migrants are often fleeing brutal violence in their home countries, where gang warfare has led to some of the highest murder rates in the world.
The caravan initially had about 1,500 migrants, but Romero said some 300 have traveled ahead to scout out the route.
About 80 percent of the group is from Honduras, with the remainder from Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, he said.
He said the Mexican authorities seem unsure how to handle the group.
“The Mexican government is under a lot of pressure from the United States to show that it has control over its borders. But it also can’t take direct action (such as deporting the migrants) because there is already a lot of public exposure,” he said.”
The AFP also reported separately the caravan plans to enter the U.S. from Baja California.
“A spokesperson for the non-governmental organization Pueblos Sin Frontera told the Mexican press that the migrant caravan intends to reach the border with the United States in the state of Baja California.”
El Heraldo also reported the caravan’s destination.
“Viacrucis aims to reach Tijuana, Mexicali or Tecate, in the state of Baja California Norte, bordering the United Sates.”
