Mexico kept the border with Guatemala City And Tecún Umán closed for seven hours, finally it opened at 4 p.m.
Dozens of migrants, who participate in the caravan heading to the United States and who left San Pedro Sula, Honduras, tried to cross through the border crossing unregistered. A National Guard barrier prevented them from passing, although some managed to cross into small groups, and the rest retreated to Tecun Uman.
Photo: Alberto Pradilla
Disillusioned, most of the caravan members returned to Tecún Umán, Guatemala. Only a few dozen followed the orders of officials of the National Migration Institute (INM) and crossed the gate in groups of 20.
Read: AMLO offers 4,000 temporary jobs in the south to members of the migrant caravan
While they were registered at the INM premises at the border, a message was heard from a horn: “You are entering Mexico irregularly. You must carry a Mexican visa or immigration document. Don’t expose yourself to people smugglers. His life is in danger. Don’t be fooled. It is not a fact that the United States will grant you asylum. On the contrary. He could be returned immediately to Guatemala. Mexico offers you employment opportunity in your home country.”
After being searched, they were boarded up on buses. From within they made gestures because they did not know where they would be moved. SOURCES of the INM pointed out that, in order to follow the standard immigration process, they should be taken to the migrant station Siglo XXI, in Tapachula, Chiapas. However, no one confirms it. Even a CNHD official present at the scene complained that even they were not being informed of the place where the migrants were transferred.
Photo: Alberto Pradilla
In a statement, the INM reported that it maintains attention to Central American migrants on the southern border, where groups of 20 are informed of the requirements of the Migration Act and the Regulations on the matter.
Closed borders
Tecún Umán is not the only frontier that was closed on Saturday. The Ceibo, which adjoins Guatemala’s Department of Petén, was also closed due to the presence of hundreds of Central American migrants. Some of them managed to cross the border through the mountain and headed to La 72 hostel in Tenosique, Tabasco.
Hundreds of Honduran, Salvadoran and Guatemalan migrants remain in Tecún Umán, Guatemala. It is not known how they will attempt to cross into Mexico, as there is a presence of the National Guard along the Suchiate River, which divides Guatemala and Mexico.
Photo: Alberto Pradilla
The members of the caravan arrived on Saturday morning at the Rodolfo Robles International Bridge, between Mexico and Guatemala, in Chiapas, where access was closed and security was strengthened.
At around 9 a.m., there was a struggle between elements of the National Guard that prevented the migrants from entering. Authorities sprayed pepper spray to contain them and close the bridge’s two access gates, however, some groups managed to get through the gate.
Find out: There will be no safe passages or transit visas, Segob warns of new migrant caravan
The caravan has been organized through Whatsapp groups and in them there are people from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, mostly.
Read: New migrant caravan begins its journey in Honduras to reach US
This is the first caravan to be convened since, in April 2019, some 400 people were arrested by agents of the National Migration Institute (INM) in the vicinity of Pijijiapan, Chiapas.
Migrant caravans became popular in October 2018 when thousands of people (at least 7,000 in the first, according to Suchiate’s municipal authorities) crossed Mexico to the northern border, specifically Tijuana, Baja California.
Between October and November of that year, four caravans with migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador crossed the country to the United States. Some of its members jumped the fence to seek asylum, others returned to their home countries and a third group managed to work and settled in Mexico.
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