GUATEMALA CITY — As some 3,000 Hondurans made their way through Guatemala, attention turned to Mexico, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to close the U.S.-Mexico border if authorities there fail to stop them — a nearly unthinkable move that would disrupt hundreds of thousands of legal freight, vehicle and pedestrian crossings each day.
With less than three weeks before the Nov. 6 midterm elections, Trump seized on the migrant caravan to make border security a political issue and energize his Republican base.
“I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught — and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!” Trump tweeted, adding that he blamed Democrats for what he called “weak laws!”
The threat followed another one earlier this week to cut off aid to Central American countries if the migrants weren’t stopped. Trump made a similar vow over another large migrant caravan in April, but didn’t follow through and it largely petered out in Mexico.
On Thursday, Mexico’s foreign ministry said the government was assisting members of the caravan who had already crossed into Mexican territory. It was explaining the options open to the migrants and helping those who chose to apply for refugee status to navigate the lengthy process.
Mexico had also dispatched additional police to its southern border after the Casa del Migrante shelter on the Guatemalan side of the border reported that hundreds of Hondurans had already arrived there.
Apparently pleased with that response, in the evening Trump retweeted a BuzzFeed journalist’s tweet of a video clip showing the police deployment, adding his own comment: “Thank you Mexico, we look forward to working with you!”
Mexican federal police and immigration officials also appeared to detain immigration activist Irineo Mujica, who led a caravan of migrants through Mexico last spring.
His organization Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or People without Borders, said via Twitter that he was arrested Thursday in Ciudad Hidalgo on the Mexico-Guatemala border while participating in a peaceful march.
Mexican officials had said the Hondurans would not be allowed to enter as a group and would either have to show a passport and visa — something few have — or apply individually for refugee status, a process that can mean waiting for up to 90 days for approval. They also said migrants caught without papers would be deported.
Marcelo Ebrard, who is set to become foreign relations secretary when President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador takes office Dec. 1, said Trump’s tweets need to be understood in the context of the upcoming U.S. midterm elections.
“The electoral process is very near, so he is making a political calculation,” Ebrard said in an interview.