By PoliZette Staff | October 13, 2019
Mexican authorities over the weekend stopped a caravan of some 2,000 migrants who were headed for the United States only a few hours into their journey, according to officials and as reported by Fox News on Sunday.
Migrants from Africa, the Caribbean, and Central America reportedly made up the caravan.
They left before dawn on Saturday from Tapachula, a southern Mexico town near the Guatemalan border, as Reuters reported.
Many of these migrants who departed from Tapachula “had been held up there for weeks or months, awaiting residency or transit papers from Mexican authorities,” noted Fox News.
“About 24 miles into their journey, federal police and national guardsmen blocked their path.”
“Most of the group was detained and put on a bus back to Tapachula, while about 150 migrants returned by foot, witnesses said.”
The halt of the caravan was in dramatic contrast to what happened last year — when various caravans, including one made up of at least 7,000 individuals — drew widespread attention and coverage by the press.
Now, “under pressure from Washington, the government has been taking a tougher stance in dealing with migrants — and many Mexicans are being less welcoming.”
Back in June, President Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on Mexico if the country didn’t reduce the number of migrants flooding through its country and heading for the United States.
Fearing the tariffs, Mexico swung into action — and began placing troops along its borders with Guatemala and Honduras.
Just three months after that, the number of migrants dropped by 56 percent.
Related: Trump Suspends Tariffs Against Mexico
That’s a rather stunning amount. Much of the mainstream media did not cover that strong success story for President Trump.
“In June, President Trump drove negotiations with Mexico aimed at stemming the tide of illegal immigration moving through the country to the southern border of the United States,” as BizPac Review recounted last month.
“That agreement gave Mexico three months to take necessary steps to significantly pare the numbers of undocumented migrants within 90 days or tariffs against the country would go into effect.”
Trump then threatened tariffs of five percent — which would rise every month if Mexico failed to act.
Mexico’s Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, “using data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), said that the number of migrants [who were] stopped in August [2019] was 63,989, down from 146,266 in May. Mexico has deployed at least 20,000 police officers and National Guard troops throughout the country to prevent illegal passage through its territories,” noted the same outlet in September.
As Fox News also pointed out on Sunday about the latest activity, “Mexico’s export-driven economy is highly dependent on commerce with the U.S., and the government has become far less hospitable to migrants.”
“Mexico has offered refugees the possibility of obtaining work and residency permits to stay in southern Mexico, far from the U.S. border.”
“But those asylum permits are slow-coming in an overstretched immigration system.”
See the tweet below for more information — and share your thoughts on this story.
Mexican National Guard Stopped, Turned Back Migrant Caravan Headed For US https://t.co/OeNrVNExxa
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 13, 2019
This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
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