About 200 caravan migrants demand buses to drive them to the US border
Some 200 migrants marched to the UN offices located west of Mexico City to request about 30 trucks to move them from the capital to the border.
The thousands of Central American immigrants who have been advancing in a caravan to the US border for a month have asked the Mexican authorities to charter buses to reach their destination.
Now they are in Mexico City, and they consider it too dangerous and too cold to continue walking or asking for a ride on the highway.
According to the authorities of the Mexican capital, there are 4,841 registered immigrants who receive shelter in a stadium, among which 1,726 are minors (including 310 children under the age of five).
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"We need buses to continue the trip," said Milton Benítez, one of the caravan coordinators. If they do not get them, this Thursday night they will decide when to leave and what route to take to the border.
"California is the longest route but the best border, while Texas is the closest but the worst," said José Luis Fuentes, of the National Lawyers Guild.
Mexico City is 600 miles from McAllen (Texas), but the caravan of immigrants who arrived last spring at the border chose to head to San Diego; by the time he arrived at the border, there were only 200 people out of the thousand who started the trip.
The Mexican government has ensured that, in this case, the majority of immigrants have rejected their offer to stay in the country, and only a few have agreed to return to their countries (85% are Hondurans).
According to the authorities, 2,697 temporary work visas have been issued, with a view to offering their applicants a permanent asylum in the country.
The United Nations considers that another 4,000 immigrants could also go to the border in other caravans that are further behind, even in the south of the country.
According to federal police, in the last few weeks, at least 17,000 Central American immigrants have entered Mexico in four caravans. Of these, 4,000 have already been repatriated, according to the police.
Only four had a criminal record, despite accusations by US President Donald Trump, who called the immigrants criminals, suggested that there may be Islamic terrorists among them, and has deployed thousands of soldiers at the border to cut them off.
At the White House, this week President Donald Trump revealed his plan for the military troops he’d deployed to the US’ southwestern border. Trump threatened to shoot the migrants if they tried throwing stones in an effort to enter the US.
Trump said that he hoped they wouldn’t need to fire upon any migrants attempting to enter the country through Mexico. However, he threatened that if they threw any from across the border “we will consider that a firearm.”