The Pentagon announced on Monday that it is deploying 5200 troops to America’s border with Mexico, as the migrant caravan making its way from Central America, while the Guardian reported that a second migrant caravan, believed to be armed with bombs and guns, crossed into Mexico on Monday despite a massive police presence on both sides of the Guatemalan-Mexico border.
As the endless walking takes its toll and with some 1,000 miles still to go to reach the US, morale is reported to be declining in the first caravan of migrants, and the once estimated 7,000 migrants within the caravan, has reportedly shrunk to an estimated 4,000, as many have dropped out to return home or try their luck in Mexico.
According to a report by the Guardian, a second migrant caravan crossed into Mexico on Monday, despite the presence of hundreds of federal officers in riot gear lined along the riverbank, who tried to block the migrants from crossing the Suchiate River.
This caravan is believed to be armed with bombs and guns. This group had gasoline bombs fashioned from soft-drink bottles, as well as, improvised PVC tubes, according to the Guardian’s report.
This followed a night of violence, where migrants threw rocks and used sticks against Mexican police. The confrontations left one Central American migrant dead.
Guatemala’s Interior Ministry said that Guatemalan police officers were injured while trying to stop the group as it broke through the border barriers on Guatemala’s side of the bridge.
On Monday, the Pentagon announced that by the end of the week, 5,200 US troops will be deployed along the US-Mexico border in an effort to stop the thousands of migrants and refugees from entering the United States.
General Terrence O’Shaughnessy, the commander with the U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said the mission of the deployment, named “Operation Faithful Patriot,” is to “harden the points of entry” into the country. The troops will be deployed where the borders of Texas, Arizona and California meet with Mexico.
Earlier on Monday, President Donald Trump tweeted: “Please go back, you will not be admitted into the United States unless you go through the legal process. This is an invasion of our country and our military is waiting for you!”
