On Oct. 12, in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, 160 migrants began an arduous trek northward. Solely by word of mouth, hundreds joined from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador to flee persecution and violence and to seek economic opportunities not found in their countries of origin. By the end of last week, the number surpassed 14,000 migrants in the caravan.
Separated into three distinct groups, the foremost group, composed of around 7,000, is currently 900 miles from the border of Texas in the southern Mexican town of Huixtla. Mexican Federal Police attempted to fortify their borders with armed guards, tear gas, and barbed wire, but were still unable to prevent thousands of migrants from rafting in and settling in for the first night in the plaza of Ciudad Hidalgo. Mexico claims to have processed 1,700 of the migrants, but it is unclear how many of them will remain in Mexico or continue northward to Texas. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met last week with officials in Mexico City to discuss the issue, asking their authorities to stop the caravan before it reaches the US border.
Midterms are just days away, and immigration is President Trump’s main platform. In 2017, according to the US Agency for International Development, the United States provided over $175m to Honduras. However, economic relief does not always mean that the country is healed. The organization said, “People generally don’t want to leave their homes if they can live normal, safe lives there.” Trump has threatened to cut foreign aid to Honduras if the group doesn’t turn back, which would ultimately make the migrant situation worse in the future. His reasoning, which he posted to Twitter and to which he admits there is no proof, is that the caravan is a Democratic stunt to allow “criminals and unknown Middle Easterners” into the US. “We are sunburned. We have blisters. But we got here. Our strength is greater than Trump’s threats,” migrant Britany Hernandez told AFP news agency.
In preparation for the arrival of the caravan, the White House is expected to deploy as many as 1,000 additional active troops to fortify border security operations, according to White House Officials. The additional troops will reinforce the approximate 2,000 National Guard personnel already stationed at various checkpoints. They are not authorized to make arrests, act as enforcers, or use firearms against migrants, so their expected role is unclear. Critics have said that this plan will be ineffective, costly, and likely just an attempt to stroke the wishes of Trump’s conservative base.
Another prospective solution would be to close the southern border entirely. However, closing the border violates treaties with Mexico regarding the exchange of goods and can injure the economies of both nations. On top of this, despite the Mexican government’s attempts to keep out migrants, the caravan has been met with overwhelming support by Mexican citizens, who donate food, water, and clothing to them as they pass. Mexico has been forced to process immigrants for asylum, and should the US refuse to do the same and force Mexico to foot the entire cost, it could potentially incite major conflict between the neighboring nations, according to the Department of Homeland Security in a brief with Fox News.
Assuming the borders will not close, once migrants are on US soil- either legally or not- any immigrant claiming fear of persecution in their country of origin is interviewed to assess the credibility of the claim. Those who pass are given a court date, typically years in advance because of backlog, where they can give their pleas for asylum. Those who do not pass will be expedited into deportation processes to be sent back to their country of origin. In the meantime, those waiting for proceedings will be released with tracking devices. The Trump Administration is currently seeking ways to make the process move faster, especially since families seeking asylum as a group are not allowed to be detained for more than a few weeks.
It's expected that the last 900 mile leg of the journey could take months for the caravan to complete, as they face various environmental and governmental obstacles along the way. No matter how the caravan is handled once it reaches our southern border, one can only hope that a middle ground can be found in which both the will of the migrants and the will of the Americans are treated with equal respect.
First published in print by The Stillman Exchange on October 26, 2018.
