Mexico finds itself in a familiar location -- between a rock and a hard place -- as it strives to cope with the latest Central American migrant caravan at its borders while defying a racially-biased president of the United States.
Mexico has said it will pursue its own national interests and not the commands of president Donald Trump, who threatened to retaliate if Mexico doesn't stop the latest migrant caravan from reaching the Mexico-U.S. border.
Under Mexican law, Central Americans that enter Mexico legally are generally allowed to move freely through the country, even if their goal is to cross illegally into the United States.
Mexico's Ministry of the Interior said it has received 640 asylum claims: 164 from women, including pregnant women, a 10nd4 from children under 17.
Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray emphasized that Mexico won't give in to pressure to detain the migrants. He urged Trump to address the causes of the migrant's mass flight: violent crime and poverty. Mexico's migration policy is for Mexico to decide, said Videgaray.
An enraged Trump last week tweeted the migrant caravan an "onslaught" and an "assault on our country. He threatened to cut aid to the region; deploy the U.S. Army to the Mexican border and close the border if Mexican authorities don't stop the migrant convoy.
The Mexican stand-off at the border between Guatemala and Mexico involves more than 1,000 migrants, mostly from Honduras. Many of these migrants remain stranded at the Guatemala-Mexico international bridge in Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas, Mexico, which links Mexico to Guatemala.
These migrants are apparently what's left of a more than 3,000 strong caravan that departed Honduras last week to escape what the poverty and insecurity in Honduras, where brutal street gangs rule their turf with horrific violence. Honduras remains one of the most violent and murderous countries on the planet.
Many migrants camped-out on Guatemala-Mexico international bridge. Some were quoted by media saying they're staying on the bridge until the Mexicans open the fence at the border with Guatemala. Many of the people in the caravan are women and young children.
The caravan clashed with Mexcian riot police at the bridge, with many injuries reported. Migrants hurled rocks and other objects at hundreds of deployed Mexican riot police, who retaliated by firing rubber bullets and tear gas at the unruly migrants.
Mexican customs authorities insist immigrants need to file asylum claims one at a time to enter the country. They did, however, allow some migrants to enter. First to enter Mexico were women and children, who were loaded onto trucks and taken to shelters.
