Tapachula, Mexico, Oct 21 (EFE).- Hundreds of migrants remained at the Rodolfo Robles bridge crossing point over the Suchiate River on the Guatemalan border on Sunday, waiting to cross into Mexico to continue their journey to try and reach the US.
On Friday a large group tried to enter Mexico by breaking down the gate at the frontier, and a number of the unarmed Mexican police stationed at the site were injured when the hundreds of migrants stormed the gate and pushed into Mexican territory.
The Guatemalan government said Sunday that it has repatriated a total of 953 of the migrants to Honduras, most of them by bus but a few by air, according to its special plan to return them to their country.
Of the approximately 5,400 migrants who set out from Honduras a week ago, some 2,000 have returned to Honduras but 3,000 more are continuing with their plan to get to the southern US border.
US President Donald Trump said Sunday that his administration is doing all it can to prevent the migrant caravan from crossing the border into Mexico, warning that his government will not allow them to enter the US.
“Full efforts are being made to stop the onslaught of illegal aliens from crossing our Souther (sic) Border. People have to apply for asylum in Mexico first, and if they fail to do that, the U.S. will turn them away. The courts are asking the U.S. to do things that are not doable!” said Trump on Twitter.
“The Caravans are a disgrace to the Democrat Party. Change the immigration laws NOW!” the president wrote in another tweet.
Earlier on Sunday, thousands of Honduran migrants who left their country in a caravan heading north resumed their journey after fulfilling Mexico’s migration requirements to ensure that the US southern neighbor did not deport them if they had entered that country illegally.
According to officials with Mexico’s Civil Protection service, more than 3,000 migrants are en route along the 40-kilometer (25-mile) stretch between Ciudad Hidalgo and Tapachula, in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, where they announced that they intend to spend Sunday night.
A force of more than 600 state and federal police have set up a roadblock some 5 km outside Tapachula, apparently with the aim of halting the massive caravan before it reaches the city.
Mexico said that 640 of the migrants had been referred to the National Migration Institute after expressing their aim to request asylum and 500 had said they wanted to return to Honduras.
The ministry said that 900 migrants tried to enter Mexico “informally” – that is, illegally – most of them by swimming the Suchiate River, and they had been “rescued” by Mexican authorities and would be repatriated to their countries of origin.
In all, more than 2,000 members of the caravan, which departed Honduras on Oct. 13, have decided to voluntarily return to their country, according to Honduran Deputy Foreign Minister Nelly Jerez.
The migrants abandoned their trek in Guatemala and at the Mexican border and they were given aid and basic amenities and guaranteed a safe and orderly return to their communities.
Trump advierte que su Gobierno no aceptará a la caravana de inmigrantes
Washington, 21 oct (EFE).- El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, aseguró hoy que su Gobierno está haciendo “todos los esfuerzos posibles” para evitar que “la avalancha de extranjeros ilegales” crucen la frontera con México, y les advirtió que, de llegar, las autoridades estadounidenses no aceptarán su entrada.
“Las personas deben solicitar asilo en México primero, y si no lo hacen, EE.UU. los rechazará. ¡Los tribunales están pidiendo a EE.UU. que haga cosas que no son factibles!”, afirmó el mandatario a través de su cuenta de Twitter en alusión a la caravana de inmigrantes que hace días partió de Honduras hacia territorio estadounidense.
“Las caravanas son una desgracia para el Partido Demócrata. ¡Cambien las leyes de inmigración AHORA!”, agregó en otro tuit.
La caravana de migrantes hondureños que se dirige a la frontera con Estados Unidos, llegó hoy a la ciudad mexicana de Tapachula mientras las autoridades de migración les instan a regularizar su estatus legal.
Al menos 2.000 miembros de la caravana que lograron superar las exigencias migratorias impuestas por México salieron a primera hora del paso fronterizo de Ciudad Hidalgo (México) para una jornada a pie de unos 40 kilómetros hasta Tapachula, donde pernoctarán.
El objetivo de la caravana es alcanzar la frontera de México con Estados, Unidos, lo que supone un recorrido de 2.000 kilómetros hacia la zona noreste o de casi 4.000 kilómetros si se opta por la ruta del noroeste que lleva a Tijuana.
En el puente fronterizo de México y de Guatemala quedaron varios centenares de migrantes hondureños a la espera de ser atendidos por la migración mexicana, o en su caso, intentar adentrarse en México en cruces ilegales por el río Suchiate, la frontera entre México y Guatemala.
El Gobierno de México, a través de la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores confirmó que el total de migrantes llegados a su frontera sur del país ha sido de alrededor de 4.500.