The Mexican government on Tuesday played down the migrant caravan that has been marching through the country as an annual demonstration, and said hundreds of non-Mexico citizens have already been deported back to their home countries.
The statement was released as other reports from within Mexico said the caravan that President Trump has been protesting for the last few days has essentially been stopped.
Mexico stressed that it has been working to “ensure that migration occurs in a legal, safe, orderly manner and with full respect for the rights of the people. Under no circumstances, the Mexican government promotes irregular migration.”
“In this context, the government of the Republic considers that the caravan known as ‘Viacrucis del Migrante’ is a public demonstration that seeks to draw attention to the migratory phenomenon and the importance of respect for the rights of Central American migrants, which in many cases, they are forced to leave their places of origin in search of better opportunities or with the intention of obtaining international protection through the figure of the ‘refuge,'” the Mexican government said according to an unofficial translation of its a Spanish-language statement.
“This caravan is held every year at this time, since 2010, and is mainly composed of migrants from the Northern Triangle of Central America (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador), whose entry into national territory was given without meeting the requirements of law,” the statement added.
“For this reason, participants of this demonstration are subject to an administrative immigration procedure, while around 400 have already been repatriated to their countries of origin, with strict adherence to the legal framework and full respect for their human rights,” it said.
Mexico said it has offered refuge status to some of the participants, but said it has worked to “ensure the safety and protection of the dignity and human rights of the members of the caravan.”
The government did hold open the possibility that some members of the caravan might try to enter the U.S., but did not explicitly endorse that idea, and said it would be up the U.S. whether to let any of them enter.
“[I]t is not the responsibility of this government to exercise immigration decisions of the United States or any other nation, so it will be the competent authorities of the American Union that decide, if appropriate, to authorize or not the entry into its territory of the members of the caravan that request it through the authorized entry and exit ports,” it said.
