The Mexican government informed U.S. officials Thursday they would not allow a new migrant caravan forming in Guatemala to pass through their country enroute to the United States.
Mexico’s Secretary of Interior Olga Sanchez Cordero said no visas or permissions for the caravan will be provided.
“We will not have a transit visa or safe passage,” Sanchez Cordero told Expansion Politica. “There will be special enforcement and there will be immigration agents.”
That said, if the caravan migrants wish to remain in Mexico, there are procedures available to accommodate most of them, he added.
“Mexico is not a country of transit that gives passage, it is a country that opens its doors to individuals that want to enter and migrate here,” Sanchez Cordero was quoted in El Universal.
“If they want Mexico to give them entry in an asylum capacity or as refugees or under any immigration status for work, studying …. We will gladly work with them,” he added.
This week, as news of the newly forming caravan spread, Mexican officials held meetings with U.S. and Central American counterparts with the objective of devising plans to stem migration northward and address economic issues that force many migrants to flee their home countries.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, has negotiated a number of solutions with Mexico and Central American nations to prevent migrants from streaming into the U.S. from Mexico.
One of them is the administration’s “Remain in Mexico” plan, which requires asylum seekers to stay south of the border until their cases are heard, which can take years.
Also, the Trump administration’s efforts to build new border barriers is ongoing, with more than 100 miles of new fence having been built since 2017.