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Thousands of migrants from Honduras crossed the border between Guatemala and Mexico violated. They overcame several barriers in front of a border bridge and arrived on Mexican territory, reported a journalist from the AFP news agency in the border town of Tecún Umán. On the bridge, they stopped in front of a last barrier. Hondurans aim at the United States.
With shouts of "Yes, we can" and "Mexico, Mexico," people passed through a series of metal barriers that blocked their passage to the border bridge to Mexico. In vain, dozens of police tried to stop the crowd.
People stopped only at the end of the bridge, before the last barrier. A Mexican official urged them via a megaphone to form a delegation and seek a solution with the commissioners for migration.
There are also many women and children among the people. "I'm happy, we do not do anything wrong, we just want work," said a woman crossing the Mexican border with a little girl in the crowd. "Please, open it," a woman with a baby in her arms screamed desperately in front of the last fence.
Trump threatens the closure of the border
"We're going in," a young man chanted, as more and more people gathered on the bridge. On occasion, stones and other objects were thrown by the crowd on the security cordon, wounding police officers. Several migrants lost consciousness during the crush.
Thousands of Hondurans are currently fleeing poverty and violence in their home country, their goal is the USAUS President Donald Trump on Thursday called on Mexico to "end this attack," otherwise he would appeal to the army and close the southern border. He had already threatened Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to reduce any financial aid if they allowed the migrants to leave.
Mexico is preparing for migrants
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned of a major crisis at a meeting with his Mexican counterpart, Luis Videgaray, in Mexico City if a record number of migrants entered the United States. Videgaray replied that his country, like any other constitutional state, would respect the law – "but always in a humanitarian way".
Ciudad Tecún Umán is separated by a border bridge from the Mexican city of Ciudad Hidalgo. There, authorities have already prepared the arrival of at least 3,000 migrants. According to the head of the local police, Gerardo Hernández, five detention centers have been set up for 4,000 people. Immigration officers are also ready to issue refugee visas.
Thursday, the ambassador of Mexico in Guatemala tries to prevent people from crossing the border illegally. Anyone holding a passport and a visa could enter legally and others could apply for refugee status, he said. According to Foreign Minister Videgaray, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, is ready to assist the Mexican government in processing asylum applications.
Honduras is one of the countries with the highest rates of violence in the world, particularly because of brutal and powerful youth gangs and drug trafficking. In addition, 68% of the nine million people live in poverty.
According to the UN, more than 500,000 people cross the southern border of Mexico each year to reach the United States. Stopping illegal immigration is a key theme of Trump's program.
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