President Trump has said that it would be smart if Mexico would stop caravans before they get started or reach the border with the United States or if the countries of origin kept caravans from forming, rather than to dump their citizens on the United States.
He is remaining resolute in preventing the caravans from reaching US soil until they have won their asylum claim. That puts the pressure on the Mexican government to feed them and provide shelter and medical treatments for them. The president knows that changes the dynamics for the Mexicans and gives them an incentive to stop the caravans.
The president’s tweet came shortly after the Mexican government agreed Saturday to hold those seeking asylum at the border until the U.S. can assess each case. The plan, called “Remain in Mexico,” would theoretically alleviate concerns that migrants cross the border to avoid wait times.
Mexico’s incoming government denied a deal had been struck Saturday, setting off the tense exchange of words from Trump, according to Fox News.
Keeping asylum seekers in Mexico would also ensure the more than 500 criminals that the Department of Homeland Security says are embedded in the migrant caravan do not enter the U.S. Mexican officials appear concerned about mass caravans using their country as a go-between on the way to the U.S.
“The medium- and long-term solution is that people don’t migrate,” Mexico’s soon-to-be interior minister, Olga Sánchez Cordero, told The Washington Post Saturday. “Mexico has open arms and everything, but imagine, one caravan after another after another, that would also be a problem for us.”
It has been simple for the Mexican government to pass on the burden to the US but under the new policies, there is a heavy burden on Mexico. With that in mind, Mexico has a vested interest in stopping these caravans.