Caravan inches closer to border as many reject Mexican asylum

Thousands of Central American migrants vowed Saturday to continue pressing north to the US border after many of them rejected an offer of refugee status from Mexico.

Mexican officials had promised shelter, medical attention, schooling and jobs to members of the Central American caravan who would ditch their plans to reach the States. The offer came as the Trump administration moved to send 800 extra troops to the border to help keep the migrants from entering the US.

Authorities said some 1,700 migrants accepted Mexico’s offer, but thousands more took a pass.

“Our goal is not to remain in Mexico,” 58-year-old Oscar Sosa, a migrant from Honduras, told the Associated Press. “Our goal is to make it to the [United States]. We want passage, that’s all.”
Mexican police closed the highway the caravan has traversed in recent days, but said they’d reopen it now that they have made the asylum proposal.

Some migrants said they would further discuss the proposal after they reach Mexico City.

The caravan came to a standstill a day after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis authorized the use of troops and resources at the US-Mexico border.

US officials said military personnel wouldn’t be engaged in a law-enforcement role, but focus on infrastructure and logistics.

Coverage of thousands of migrants bent on reaching the United States has drawn strong words from the president.

“To those in the Caravan, turnaround, we are not letting people into the United States illegally,” he tweeted Thursday, ignoring that many planned to legally apply for asylum. “Go back to your Country and if you want, apply for citizenship like millions of others are doing!”

Trump is expected to invoke emergency powers to stop migrants from entering the States on Tuesday, according to The Washington Post. He is considering measures that would bar migrants from crossing the border and prevent them from applying for asylum.

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