Mexico's immigration policy is a matter of “sovereignity”

The migrant caravan organized by the NGO Pueblo sin Fronteras (roughly, People without Borders) is known as “Migrant Via Crucis 2018” and is comprised of 1,500 people – most of them citizens of El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras. It's objective is to raise awareness about the migrants seeking to escape the high violence rates and poverty conditions of their countries of origin.

The caravan departed on March 25 from Chiapas and is currently paused in Oaxaca . The original route included reaching the central-state of Puebla, where the members of the caravan were to receive legal advisory on asylum applications, and then continue crossing the Mexican Republic until their final destination: the U.S.-Mexico border.

The caravan, according to statements of official Mexican authorities, has been taking place since 2010.

Following the declarations of U.S. President Donald Trump on the matter, Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior released a joint press release , stating that Mexico's immigration policy is “a sovereign issue.”

The statement also confirms the migrant caravan has begun to “break up,” a decision made “solely by the members of the caravan and not due to any external or domestic pressure.”

According to the latest statements of the coordinator of the caravan, Irineo Mujica , the caravan will no longer reach the border region, as it will conclude in Mexico City. He explained that the main difficulty they are facing this year is the number of people participating in the march.

“Too many children are traveling [with us], 450; there are a lot of babies and getting on the train the way we used to do before would be madness,” said Mujica.

Regarding the statements of the U.S President about “preparing to secure the border” through the use of their military, Mexico's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luis Videgaray , posted the following on his Twitter account that:

“Mexico has requested to the United States, through official channels, to clarify the announcement of @POTUS [Twitter account of the U.S. President] regarding the use of the military in the border. The Mexican government will define its position based on said clarification, and always in defense of our sovereignty and national interest.”

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