Caravan With Migrants Blocked at American Border, Their Future Unclear

After a long month of traveling on the caravan, the fates of the migrants who are seeking asylum in the United States remain unclear as they go through examination and questioning at the border.

On Tuesday, a caravan loaded with migrants arrived on the Northern border of Mexico, hoping to enter the United States. This arrival came a month after its departure from Mexico’s southern border near Guatemala, and the van carried about 130 migrants, with a majority of women and children.

Many of these migrants have applied for asylum in the United States, attempting to escape from the poverty and instability within their home countries. This, however, has become increasingly difficult as they faced scrutiny and questioning of extreme extend from the border security under the Trump administration.

From where they stopped, they could see the tip of California, a destination so close yet so far. Many of them have fled from El Salvador as they were threatened by a gang. They have come to Tijuana because it was told to them it would be easier to apply for an asylum from there than from Mexicali.

Bryan Claros, one of the migrants that arrived in the van from El Salvador, said with hope: “We’ve almost arrived in the United States.” However, he is aware of the difficulties and hardships that lie ahead: “There’s still a long way to go.”

This will not be the first caravan to arrive at the border. Following this one, the border is expecting another convoy of buses and trains carrying hundreds of more migrants from Central America. This sight of mass migration has become almost an annual occurrence, centering around Easter week. However, this year’s migrant counts reached the largest on record, numbering almost 1,200.

President Trump, however, has not been subtle in hiding his sentiments towards migrants into the United States from Central America. His effort in the travel ban, border wall and ending DACA have all been an indication of his hostility against the migrants. In fact, he tweeted in response to the arrival of the caravan, warning the public of the migrants’ potential danger and threat towards American citizens. In fact, he explicitly tweeted that under his order, Department of Homeland Security would not “let these large Caravans of people into our country.”

Trump has even branded this mass migration as a disgrace. He also channeled the blame towards the Mexican government, writing that the government “must stop people from going through Mexico and into the U.S.”

This series of tweets received a vehement response from Mexico’s foreign secretary, Luis Videgaray, who said that his comments were “unacceptable” and that “Mexico decides its immigration policy in a sovereign manner.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions also commented in this matter, saying that there would be enough prosecutors and judges to make sure that the migrants are handled properly and justly.

In recent years, fewer than half of those who applied for an asylum in the United States were actually accepted and many of those applied out of threats from gang, which made the process harder to corroborate and prove than political persecution and threat.

For those who applied and were not accepted, they were forced to be deported and their fates after deportation remain unclear. Despite the pushback from the United States and President Trump against the arrival and progress of the caravan, the migrants pushed on, fighting to reach their lives in America.