US President Donald Trump has threatened to order the military to close the US-Mexico border to stop an "onslaught" of migrants. Mexico itself geared up for the arrival of up to 3,000 people from Honduras on its border.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/H. Martinez
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US President Donald Trump on Thursday accused the Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras of conducting an "assault" on the United States by allowing people to travel north into Mexico.
He went on to threaten to use the military to close the border if Mexico did not stop the migrants traveling through the country to the United States. Trump appealed to Mexico to stop the migrants, and also warned that he would stop aid payments to Central American countries "which seem to have almost no control of their population."
Trump's threats — which appeared in a string of tweets — came as thousands of migrants made their way through Guatemala toward the Mexican border.
One single caravan, estimated to include between 1,500 to 3,000 people, left Honduras headed north last Saturday. Many, seeking to escape gang violence and poverty, are believed to be seeking a route to the United States. Some told the AFP news agency that they planned to enter Mexico en masse.
Trump's tweets also blamed Democrats for the situation, claiming that weak laws were to blame, and said the migrants included criminal elements. It remained unclear whether Trump's threat would result in any military deployment.
Huge quantities of goods and hundreds of thousands of people move across the border legally each day.
Trump has made immigration across the border from Mexico, including his call for a wall across the frontier, a central policy of his administration. His administration's policy of separating familesand detaining thousands of children, mostly from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, prompted widespread condemnation.
Thousands headed north into Guatemala and Mexico during the weekImage: Getty Images/J. Moore
Playing to the crowd?
While Trump's tweets on Thursday were particularly robust, Mexico's foreign minister-designate Marcelo Ebrard downplayed them, saying they were aimed at his US political base.
"The position of President Trump is the one he has always raised," Ebrard told local radio station Radio Centro. "It was predictable and also the election process is very close, so he is making a political calculation."
Mexico has said it will ask the United Nations refugee office for help with the arrival of the Honduran migrants, who include many families with children.
Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said he planned to make the formal request in a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York.
"For the Mexican government it is essential first to respect and protect the human rights and fundamental dignity of all of the migrants and to do so under a logical and humanitarian and respectful treatment," said Videgaray.
Mexican deportees return to home city they never knew
Under President Donald Trump more and more undocumented migrants are being deported. Many of them have spent half their lives in the US. Every week three planes of deportees arrive in Mexico City. Sanne Derks reports.
Image: DW/S. Derks
A bitter arrival
The planes arrive at a special gate at Mexico City airport. These undocumented migrants are deported from the detention centers in the US in handcuffs and put on planes. Twenty minutes before landing they are released.
Image: DW/S. Derks
Illegal alien
George Niño de la Riviera found out he was living illegally in the US when he turned 18 and applied for a job. He was told he did not have a social security number. He was taken to the US by his parents when he was a baby and grew up there. Five months ago he was deported, having spent the last 34 years in America. His four children are living with his ex-wife in Fresno.
Image: DW/S. Derks
A foreign country
Maria Herrera, 27, was deported on April 10. She was waiting for the renewal of her Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) visa when she got involved in a car crash. She was arrested and taken to jail where she was detained for two months, before being deported. She was three years old when she left Mexico — a country that is totally foreign to her.
Image: DW/S. Derks
Starting from scratch
She met George at New Comienzos, a non-profit organization that assists repatriated people, and they started dating. "It's great to have a special friend who went through all of this too," she told DW. Neither of them knew anything about Mexico. While in detention Maria suffered depression and anxiety attacks. Now they're trying to find their way around Mexico City.
Image: DW/S. Derks
Detained and deported
As a result of a fight he had in 2003 with an ex-girlfriend, Diego Miguel Maria, 37, was arrested and then deported in 2016.
Image: DW/S. Derks
"Dump Trump and his wall"
Along with five other recently deported Mexicans, he was able to qualify for funding from the Mexican government to start a textile printing press. They call their brand Deportados and print statements on bags and T-shirts like: "Dump Trump and his wall."
Image: DW/S. Derks
A helping hand
Diego's job won't make him rich, but it allows him time to volunteer and help new deportees at the airport. "I felt so lost when I got through that door. I think it is important to guide those who are in the same shoes," he told DW. The most difficult part was leaving his son behind, who lived with him before he was deported. His ex-wife doesn't allow him to maintain contact with his son.
Image: DW/S. Derks
Starting over
Daniel Sandovan was deported in February, but appears relaxed about it. "In America I could never really invest in a future, because I had no documents. What use is an education if nobody is going to hire? Here in Mexico I have the possibility to start over. I will be able to have a wife and children without fear of losing them," he told DW.
Image: DW/S. Derks
Settling in
Daniel lives in a home for refugees above the Deportados Brand print shop. A pastor in his church organized his initial stay with a 75-year-old woman who picked him up from the bus station in Mexico City. "I stayed [with her] for two weeks, painted the house, and then I contacted Deportados Brand, after I heard that they help migrants in the detention center. Now I live here with two others."
Image: DW/S. Derks
Looking on the bright side
Although most of them do not know where they'll be sent and worry that they could lose everything in a split second, the upheaval doesn't always end badly. "It feels like my life in the States was overshadowed by fear and sadness because of my legal status. Now there's less of a burden, as I am finally free and I feel at home," Maria told DW.
