DONAJI, Mexico — As President Trump ramped up his anti-migrant rhetoric, many migrants traveling in the caravan were perplexed.
Statements characterizing them as rock-throwing criminals and terrorists are just not true, they said.
While some migrants have clashed with Mexican police at a bridge on the Guatemala border, most of those traveling with the caravans have been peaceful and say they are fleeing violence and poverty at home.
Those who were traveling through the southern state of Oaxaca on Friday said they are not looking for trouble.
Marta Cuellos, a 40-year-old from Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, said she owned a cantina back home but left because she could no longer make rent and was being harassed by police. She persuaded her 35-year-old sister to join her on the trip, and said the only thing they want is work and a better life in the United States. It’s her second attempt. She first crossed into the U.S. seven years ago but was deported last year.
Selvin Maldonado, a 25-year-old from Copan, Honduras, said he left his wife and baby daughter at home in search of a better living to support his children. He took his 5-year-old son, Dennys, with him.
“What Trump said is stupid,” Maldonado said while walking to the town of Donaji. “I don’t want to attack police, because my concern is my son.”
The migrants also were turned off by the president’s characterization of the slow-moving caravan and the three smaller ones following as an “invasion.” Trump has proposed detaining migrants in massive tent cities at the border.
“We are not killers,” said Stephany Lopez, a 21-year-old Salvadoran with the first caravan. “We just want to work for a few years, and after that he can deport us if he wants.”
Lopez noted that the president’s mother, who was born in Scotland, was an immigrant.
“He should think of us as equals. Immigrants have built that country,” she said.
Tifany Morandis, 19, was traveling with her husband, 28-year-old Javier Sanchez, and their two sons. She said she was tired and is considering stopping in Tijuana, the Mexican border city across from San Diego.
But many are hopeful. “Even stones can soften,” Cuellos said.
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