US-Bound Migrants Cross into Mexico Clashing with Border Guards (+Videos)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Hundreds of people crossed from Guatemala into Mexico through a river on Monday as a migrant caravan continues its journey toward the US border, while clashing with border guards.
Live footage from the scene shows migrants wading right into the shallow waters of the Suchiate river after Mexican National Guards had blocked their path into Guatemala via a nearby bridge over the weekend.
Initially, people crossed into Mexico, walking right passed Mexican soldiers as they watched on, but the military soon blocked off the route and appeared to prevent further passage using riot shields. Some of the migrants hurled rocks at the soldiers and tried to flee past them.
The group, mostly originating in Honduras and El Salvador, intends to travel onwards to the US, and Mexico is under increasing pressure from US President Donald Trump to stop them. Mexican authorities recently deployed an additional 200 National Guards to the Guatemalan border area in a bid to block the caravan’s movement north, while President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador offered 4,000 jobs to the migrants if they agreed to stay in Mexico instead of continuing north to the US.
Migrants entering the country without registering with Mexican immigration authorities will not be allowed through, the government said earlier, but offered entry to people seeking asylum or other protections. The bridge border crossing was closed on Saturday.