Despite reports that the Mexican government had broken up a caravan of some 1,500 Central Americans marching toward the U.S. border, the throng is still together and on the move.
Buzzfeed reporter Adolfo Flores, who is covering the caravan, said it has not been disbanded and group leaders vow to continue.
Flores said that the marchers were “encouraged to take a humanitarian visa in Mexico, a document allowing them to travel in Mexico for 10 to 20 days, or document giving them permission to stay in the country for 30 days to file an immigration claim. They will not go beyond Mexico City.” But the asylum seekers will continue to the U.S. border.
President Trump on Tuesday vowed to deploy the military to stop the group from crossing into the U.S.
“We are going to be guarding our border with our military. That’s a big step,” Trump told reporters gathered at the White House. “We cannot have people flowing into our country illegally, disappearing, and by the way never showing up for court.”
Trump said he had talked with Secretary of Defense James Mattis about using the military to guard the border.
The president on Monday warned Mexico that the U.S. could kill a trade pact known as NAFTA.
Mexico, meanwhile, said it is not encouraging the caravan and is not urging access to the U.S. Mexico “does not make immigration decisions for the United States or any other nation,” the Mexican Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that the respective authorities “will decide whether to authorize or not the entry of those who are part of the caravan.”
Ironically, hundreds of the marchers were not allowed into Mexico, CNN reported.
“In its statement, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said the caravan is mainly made up of people from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador and that around 400 caravan participants who did not enter the country of Mexico lawfully had been repatriated to their countries of origin ‘with the strict legal framework,'” the liberal network reported.