Mexico Prepares for New Migrant Exodus Heading to the US

Authorities from Mexico and Central America met Wednesday to prepare for the arrival of new migrant caravans that intend to head to the United States, Hector Gandini, the spokesman for the Mexican Ministry of the Interior said.

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Mexico's National Institute of Migration's commissioner, Tonatiuh Guillen, went to El Salvador and Honduras to meet with authorities of those countries to ensure that the entry of Central American migrants into Mexico takes place in an orderly manner.

"Mexico's doors are open for anyone who wants to enter in an orderly manner... but whoever wants to come in illegally will be deported," Gandini said without explaining how Mexican authorities will seek to discourage the new caravan.

Using the motto "In Honduras They Kill Us," the new migrant caravan will depart on Jan.15 from San Pedro Sula, near the border with Guatemala. Across social networks, other caravans also rallied to depart on Jan. 20 from Santa Barbara.

In a video shared through social networks, the U.S Chargé d’Affaires to Honduras, Heide Fulton, discouraged Hondurans from making the trip, adding that thousands of migrants who participated in the 2018 caravan have already returned to their countries.

“The risks of illegal immigration are serious. Don’t waste your time and money on a trip destined to fail. The road is long and very dangerous. Thousands of Hondurans who participated in the caravan came back sorry,” Fulton said.

In 2018, thousands of Central American migrants fled violence and poverty in their countries and joined a caravan heading to the United States.

During the journey through Mexico, the caravan unleashed the wrath of President Donald Trump, who seeks to build a wall to keep migrants out. Since then, thousands of people who were on the caravan have been stranded in northern Mexico while waiting to cross into the United States.

A month ago, the U.S. government informed Mexico that migrants whose asylum requests are being processed will be returned to Mexico for the duration of the paperwork, something that could last for more than two years.

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), who took office on Dec. 1, said he will seek to eliminate the causes of migration by creating more jobs and improving living conditions in southern Mexico and Central America.