As Mexico's migrant caravan disbands and US National Guard is deployed, relations strain further

Central American migrants traveling with the annual migrant Stations of the Cross caravan march to call for migrants' rights in Oaxaca state, Mexico
Central American migrants traveling with the annual migrant Stations of the Cross caravan march to call for migrants' rights in Oaxaca state, Mexico Credit: AP Photo/Felix Marquez

The migrant caravan that grew at one point to 1,500 Central American migrants in Mexico has disbanded, but most aren’t just turning around. 

“It’s just isn’t possible for us to go back to Honduras,” says Cecilia, 38. “When the gang says they’ll kill you, they mean it.”

A local street gang closed in on her extended family when they failed to pay extortion money. Threats culminated in the kidnapping and rape of her niece and the gang members promising to do the same to her own daughter. She could see only one option.

Cecilia was initially worried she, her husband, and her two young children would be sent home when Donald Trump, the US President, called for the caravan to be stopped in southern...

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