‘Minutemen’ arrive on the US-Mexico border to fend off migrant caravans – the first of which is now ‘resting’ and seeking buses to take it to Mexico City
First, largest caravan numbering 4,000 planned to rest at least a day or longer in the southern city of Juchitan beginning Wednesday
Its leaders are trying to convince Mexican authorities to arrange transportation for them to Mexico City some 700 miles away
Second caravan of 1,000 was trailing 250 miles behind the first and was in Tapachula, Mexico
US Border Patrol this week warned Texas landowners along the southern border to get ready for the arrival of ‘armed civilians’
Head of the Texas Minutemen militia said he already has members at three points of the state’s border with Mexico, with up to 100 more expected to arrive in the coming days
SNEJANA FARBEROV
DAILYMAIL.COM
31 October 2018
Armed militiamen are heading to the US-Mexico in Texas with the intent of helping stop the Central American migrant caravans, the largest of which numbering 4,000 people today halted its progress to rest and regroup.
The lead caravan, which has been on the road for the past two weeks, planned to rest at least a day or longer in the southern city of Juchitan beginning Wednesday, hoping to organize mass transport northward after days of hard walking in scorching temperatures that have left them about 900 miles from the nearest US border crossing in McAllen, Texas.
A second, smaller group, of 1,000 or so migrants who forced their way into Mexico on Monday was trailing some 250 miles back, stopping for the night in the city of Tapachula.
A third group of migrants from El Salvador legally crossed the international border bridge between Guatemala and Mexico on Tuesday and entered the city of Ciudad Hidalgo.
At a Tuesday evening assembly, participants in the first, largest caravan named a committee to negotiate with Mexican authorities over a possible ‘bridge plan’ that could carry them the 700 miles separating Juchitan from Mexico’s capital by bus.
There was no indication from officials whether the request to transport the perhaps 4,000 people remaining in the group would be granted.
Meanwhile, the US Border Patrol this week warned Texas landowners along the southern border to get ready for the arrival of ‘armed civilians’ wishing to assist the National Guardsmen and Border Patrol agents in stopping the caravans from entering the US.
Three activists told The Associated Press that they were going to the border or organizing others, and groups on Facebook have posted dire warnings about the caravan. One said it was “imperative that we have boots on the ground.’ Another wrote: ‘WAR! SECURE THE BORDER NOW!’
The militia members said they plan to bring guns and equipment such as bulletproof vests and lend a hand to the Border Patrol to protect against people unlawfully entering the country.
‘They’re just laughing in our face,’ said Shannon McGauley, president of the Texas Minutemen. ‘It’s a free-for-all in America.’
McGauley said he already has members at three points of the state’s border with Mexico and expects to add 25 to 100 more people in the coming days, even though the first caravan is not expected to reach the nearest border crossing until December.
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