'They Should Remove It': Migrants In Mexico Want Democrats To Defund DHS And ICE
Once Trump leaves, 'We will all head north. Why not?'
TAPACHULA, Mexico — It was past 7:00 A.M. on Saturday and “The Hand of God” migrant caravan, which was mostly Central and South Americans, had still not left Parque Bicentenario despite plans for leaving two hours prior.
It turns out the delay was due to having to wait for stores to open so participants could buy a can of spray paint to complete their banner. After spraying “The Hand of God Caravan” and Philippians 4:13, (“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me”), around 300 migrants set off just before 8:00 A.M. to leave Mexico’s southern border.
The caravan was escorted by local police, to avoid accidents on the road, with the Mexican National Guard and immigration officers following close behind.
Tapachula has long been a waypoint for migrants who want to pass through Mexico on their way to the United States. Situated on the Mexico-Guatemala border, the city is the first stop for people to get Mexican immigration visas so they can have the ability to travel through the rest of the country.
During the Biden-Harris administration, Tapachula was inundated with migrants, originating from all over the world, who were wanting to take advantage of the United States’ open border policies. Today, the second Trump administration has pressured the Mexican government to keep migrants away from the U.S.-Mexico border, with Tapachula being one of the cities officials try to keep them in. One way to keep them there is not approving any visas, leading to many being stuck by the border for months.
Caravans have formed this year, as they have in the past, to work around the slow process to get visas and to have a better chance at reaching their final destination without being kidnapped, robbed, or murdered. These days, the primary motivation to leave Tapachula is to seek better job opportunities while their visa applications are processed.
This past Saturday’s caravan participants acknowledged it would be extremely difficult to enter the United States so long as President Trump’s policies are in effect. That said, those who spoke to MostlyPeaceful.Media said they are willing to work and wait in other parts of Mexico until a new president with different immigration policies is in office.
In the meantime, they are happy to see Democrats working to stop or stifle Trump’s plan for mass deportations, such as preventing the funding for the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The political fight in Congress over the budget for DHS resulted in a government shutdown, then a partial shutdown for just the agency after Democrats wanted more restrictions on immigration enforcement.
Senate Republicans had to go around Senate Democrats to get past the 60-vote threshold and were able to provide funding to DHS for the rest of Trump’s term without any of the restrictions demanded by the opposition.
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“Most of my friends think it is better to stay in Mexico and work until [Trump] leaves. Once he leaves, we will all head north. Why not?” explained Giovanni Sánchez, who is from Guatemala City, adding that many would like to go to the U.S. now but, “To be deported and try again? All of that is expensive.”
“[Democrats] are doing everything possible to get rid of that? To give more support to migrants? That would be good,” Sánchez said about Democrats wanting to defund DHS. “I have heard of shelters in the United States that help us.”
Sánchez described himself as a jack of all trades handyman.
“I will not go hungry. It is better to work and not steal,” he said.
The night before the caravan left, another man from Guatemala told MP.M he was deported from the U.S. in 2021 after serving a three-year prison sentence for assaulting someone with a bat.
“But that is okay, they should remove it,” he said about DHS funding. “But why does Trump screw over our people?…You know what bothers me? We come struggling…We reached the goal and for him to come and deport us?”
“We directly hold together that country of the United States,” a masked Honduran man told MP.M as we walked with the rest of the caravan. “Maybe we will organize and work in the border awhile and see if [Trump] leaves and then cross.”
The Honduran, who has been previously deported from the United States, was more skeptical of Democrats campaigning to defund DHS as he believed it is a tactic to simply get votes from children whose parents are illegally present.
Isaías Monroy, also from Guatemala and is traveling with his wife, said he thinks Trump has been “terrible” but hopes “God touches his heart and that we arrive in this caravan together for the American Dream.”
Monroy said he would like to work in the U.S. as a mechanic and in heavy transportation, but he would be content with staying in Mexico if he is able to open up a shop.
“Why not? Nobody discriminates here. There is food and water. Mexico has it all, right? They are not racist,” Monroy stated.
“[Americans] need to help us out. We need to unite in order to get Trump out. Because the truth is he is destroying a lot of Latinos” Sánchez said, noting he has had encounters with Mexicans who do not want the migrants in Tapachula.
Local media reported “The Hand of God Caravan” had walked 25 miles to the town of Huixtla by the second day. So far, the high temperatures and afternoon storms are the crowd’s biggest hurdles.
As with previous caravans, it is unlikely this recent group will stay together for very long. The caravan will either be broken up by Mexican immigration authorities, people will be able to make their way to their desired destination individually, or others will quit the trip and go back to Tapachula. It is expected this will not be the last time a large group of migrants try their luck walking to northern Mexico, even with the odds stacked against them.