According to a Fox News report, the Mexican government is cracking down on migrant caravans headed to the U.S. as President-elect Donald Trump threatens aggressive tariffs if the border isn’t protected.
During a press conference from Mar-a-Lago this week, Trump reiterated that a 25% tariff on all goods from Mexico is on the table unless our neighbors to the south do their part to secure the southern border.
“Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country. They can stop them. And we’re going to put very serious tariffs on Mexico and Canada, because Canada, they come through Canada too, and the drugs that are coming through are at record numbers, record numbers. So we’re going to make up for that by putting tariffs on Mexico and Canada, substantial tariffs,” he said.
The Mexican government is now breaking up and redirecting migrant caravans in what’s being called “Operation Carousel.” As part of “Operation Carousel,” Mexican authorities allow immigrants to walk for days before offering them a bus to various cities. Once there, they are promised to have their immigration status reviewed, the AP reported.
…but migrants are getting much assistance from Mexican immigration offices.
One of the locations migrants are being redirected to is Acapulco. Once a popular tourist destination, Acapulco is now overrun by violent cartels.
“Immigration [officials] told us they were going to give us a permit to transit the country freely for 10, 15 days, and it wasn’t like that,” said a 28-year-old Venezuelan, Ender Antonio Castañeda.
“They left us dumped here without any way to get out,” he said from Acapulco. “They won’t sell us [bus] tickets, they won’t sell us anything.”
Last month, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico would pressure the U.S. to send non-Mexican deportees to their countries of origin — now, she’s announced that Mexico is open to accepting foreign nationals.
According to Mexican government estimates, some 4.8 million Mexicans reside in the United States illegally, by far the largest number among any nationality.
