The Mexican government is working hard to break up caravans of migrants attempting to make the perilous journey north to the United States ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in less than two weeks.
Facing the prospect of huge tariffs on goods under the new administration, Mexico is trying to keep migrants away from the U.S. border, including by dropping them off at the Mexican beach resort city of Acapulco, a once-bustling tourist destination. Immigrants are dispersed throughout the country. The Pacific Coast became famous for jet aircraft in the 1950s and 60s.
Once the crown jewel of Mexico's tourism industry, the city is now at the mercy of organized crime and struggling to recover after being hit by powerful Hurricane Otis in 2023. It currently has one of the highest murder rates in Mexico.
The Mexican government is working hard to break up caravans of migrants attempting to make the perilous journey north to the United States ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in less than two weeks. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente)
Despite reports of caravan splitting, more migrants likely to rush to border: expert
But authorities are sending migrants there in busloads with little support and few options.
The Mexican government has adopted a “dispersion and exhaustion” policy to reduce the number of migrants reaching the U.S. border. Officials have proposed forcing migrants to walk for days until they are exhausted, then transporting them by bus to various cities, where their immigration status will be checked.
The migrants told The Associated Press that they had come to the city after accepting an offer from immigration authorities to continue their journey north toward the U.S. border, but were effectively abandoned there.
Desperate migrants were seen sleeping in tents on the streets on Monday, and Mexican drug cartels said they feared they would become targets for kidnapping and extortion, but many migrants allege that authorities are also extorting them.
Ender Antonio Castañeda, a 28-year-old Venezuelan, told The Associated Press: “The immigration authorities (officials) said they would give us permission to enter freely for 10 to 15 days, but that never happened. ” he said. “They left us here with no way to get out. They won't sell us (bus) tickets. They won't sell us anything.”
President-elect Trump doubled down on his tariff threat on Tuesday. (Reuters)
Despite reports of caravan splitting, more migrants likely to rush to border: expert
Castañeda is one of thousands of migrants who have left the southern city of Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border, in recent weeks, hoping to cross the Mexican border into the United States before Trump's inauguration. .
It takes adult migrants about 16 days of nonstop walking to reach the southernmost point of the U.S. border, the Matamoros crossing near Brownsville, Texas. It is difficult or impossible for immigration officials to detain large groups of hundreds of migrants, so migrants prefer to travel in caravans because they believe they are safer in large numbers.
President Trump has threatened Mexico with 25% tariffs on Mexican imports, and the country hopes lower numbers will provide some protection from Trump's pressure.
President Trump is expected to crack down on illegal railroad crossings, which have increased rapidly under the Biden-Harris administration. He also vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, appointed hardline South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to head the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and appointed Tom Homan to lead the new border Appointed “Emperor”. . ”
Migrants sleep in Acapulco earlier this week. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente/AP Images)
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He also pledged to end the Biden administration's parole program, which allows immigrants to enter the country through expanded “legal channels.”
On Tuesday, President Trump reiterated his threat at a press conference and also said he would rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
“Mexico has to stop millions of people from coming into our country. They can be stopped. And we're going to impose very tough tariffs on Mexico and Canada. Because Canada, they're also going through Canada. “So we're going to make up for that by imposing significant tariffs on Mexico and Canada.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
