Pueblo Sin Fronteras. People Without Borders.
This is the group behind the “caravan of migrants,” a cavalcade of more than 1,000 people bringing attention to the plight of Central American migrants by walking across Mexico — and, in the process, unleashing the ire of US President Donald Trump.
The group of migrants are fleeing poverty, violence, and political instability, Buzzfeed News reported. About 80% of them come from Honduras, and an estimated 300 are women and 400 are children, according to Irineo Mujica, who directs People Without Borders in Mexico.
While the group initially consisted of 1,500 people, that number has shrunk to just over 1,000 as the caravan weaves its way toward Mexico City, where it will disband, from the southern border town of Tapachula, where it started.
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“The truth is, what we’re looking for is a way to live in peace, in tranquillity, with employment,” Bayron Cardona Castillo, a Honduran migrant traveling with his 2-year-old daughter, told the New York Times. “In my case, all I ask is an opportunity, a chance to work and help my family.”
Central American migrants take a bath at a sports club in Matias Romero, Oaxaca State, Mexico, April 3, 2018.
Central American migrants take a bath at a sports club in Matias Romero, Oaxaca State, Mexico, April 3, 2018.
Another member of the caravan, Colindres Ortega, told Reuters that she had joined the march to show President Trump that “we are not afraid.”
Some migrants, according to reports, plan to continue their journey northward from the capital in order to apply for asylum in the United States.
Read More: How One Word Could Change the Makeup of Immigrants in the United States
This isn’t the first time People Without Borders has brought together a caravan of migrants — it does so each year around the Easter holiday — but the group probably didn’t anticipate the political firestorm this year’s march kicked off. Since firing off a litany of inflammatory tweets about the caravan of migrants, Trump has vowed to send troops to the US-Mexico border and sparred with Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto over immigration.
The war of words comes in the context of a simmering migration crisis that’s years in the making.
"Stations of the Cross"
"Stations of the Cross"
Carlos Antonio Aguilera, 14, of Honduras, poses as Central American migrants traveling with the annual "Stations of the Cross" caravan begin their day at a sports club in Matias Romero, Oaxaca State, Mexico, April 3, 2018.
"Stations of the Cross"
Immigration from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador to the United States increased sharply between 2013 and 2015 because of unprecedented rates of violence in those countries. But President Trump has vowed to slow — and even reverse — migration from Central America in an effort to beef up national security.
Read More: Mexico Is Offering Legal Aid to Immigrants Detained in the US
In January, Trump ended the Temporary Protected Status program for Salvadorans living in the United States, saying that more than 200,000 who had been living in the country must return home. And in November of last year, he ended a program that had provided a path for the children of migrants from Central America who face violence in their home countries to apply for asylum.
"All I ask is an opportunity, a chance to work and help my family.”
Global Citizen campaigns on the Global Goals for Sustainable Development, including goal No. 10 — reduced inequalities within and among countries — which calls for “responsible and well-managed migration policies.” You can join us and call on leaders to stand for all people here.
Although the caravan will officially stop in Mexico City, that doesn’t mean the journey will end for everyone. Last year, more than 100 migrants who had participated in the caravan applied for asylum in the US.
But when this year’s group arrives, it will no doubt be just the beginning of another uphill battle for them — and one they will have to fight with little more than the shoes on their feet.
A boy says goodbye to a friend from a bus that will carry him to Mexico City from the sports club where migrants traveling with the annual "Stations of the Cross" caravan had been camping out in Matias Romero, Oaxaca State, Mexico, April 5, 2018.
A boy says goodbye to a friend from a bus that will carry him to Mexico City from the sports club where migrants traveling with the annual "Stations of the Cross" caravan had been camping out in Matias Romero, Oaxaca State, Mexico, April 5, 2018.