ANOTHER migrant caravan is now heading for the U.S. – from El Salvador

Even though Trump has made it clear that the caravans are not going to be let into the U.S., yet another caravan has launched and is heading towards us – from El Salvador, a very very violent country.

From Reuters:

At least 150 Salvadorans set off on Sunday from their impoverished Central American country in a U.S.-bound caravan, ignoring their likely rejection at the U.S.-Mexico border where a larger caravan of mostly Hondurans has been stalled for days.

Guarded by police officers, the men, women and children of the gathering caravan marched through San Salvador’s streets to Guatemala-bound buses, loaded with heavy backpacks, water and the knowledge of an arduous 2,700-mile (4,300-km) trek ahead to the U.S. border.

The group from El Salvador was at least the fourth caravan to set off since a first, large-scale mobilization in neighboring Honduras, which departed on Oct. 13 from the crime-wracked northern city of San Pedro Sula.

That’s not a lot of people, comparatively, but these things tend to grow precipitously as they gather more and more people.

Ruptly has video:

One of the migrants says they want to escape the poverty of El Salvador, that they want to be able to earn money to help their families.

More from Reuters:

Inspired by the public spotlight on the larger caravan, Salvadorans organized themselves on social networks and the WhatsApp application to launch the latest effort.

Among them was Manuel Umana, a 53-year-old farmer from the town of San Pedro Masahuat, who said he decided to join Sunday’s caravan to escape MS-13, a brutal criminal gang that controls large parts of El Salvador and neighboring Honduras.

“We are already threatened by the gangs where we live,” said Umana, pointing to scars on his face he said gang members had inflicted five years ago. “We no longer can live with these people.”

His motives echoed dozens of migrants in the earlier caravans who told Reuters they were abandoning their homes to escape a toxic mixture of violence, corruption and economic insecurity.

This is going to get very difficult for Mexico – I doubt Trump is going to allow any of these migrants in, and Mexico is going to have to deal with the thousands arriving at their northern border.

That should be it for today unless there’s urgent breaking news. I hope you all had a great weekend! Let’s all celebrate with an open thread!!

Here’s some comment fodder for you all:

Now that is something.

This is funny even apart from the NFL reference:

Thanks again for all your support. Be good to each other. -sm


Comment Policy: Please read our comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges.