Trump Threatens to Double Tariffs on Mexico Unless It Stops Migrant Caravan
President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to double tariffs on Mexico if it does not stop a migrant caravan, after about 1,500 migrants set out from southern Mexico toward the United States on Tuesday.
The caravan, called “Dios con Nosotros,” Spanish for “God With Us,” set out Tuesday from Tapachula, in the state of Chiapas near the Guatemalan border. A Chiapas state government source estimated about 1,500 people were taking part. Most are from Central America, and many are families, with parents carrying small children in their arms, pushing them in strollers or carrying them on their shoulders. A group of about 1,000 was reported to have crossed the border without resistance on Sunday evening.
Their first aim is to reach Mexico City, more than 1,000 kilometers away. They are seeking help from the Mexican government and protection from detention. The journey is expected to take several weeks.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that huge caravans are forming and beginning their illegal march through Mexico. He argued that a “perceived loss” by his Republican Party in last week’s midterm elections had emboldened the migrants, and he put the incoming governor of Texas on notice. Democrats won both the House and the Senate in last week’s elections, and the Texas governorship went to Democrat Gina Hinojosa. Hinojosa will be the first Latina to lead the state.
“They will not be accepted! Mexico must stop them, now, and if they do not do so, the tariffs on Mexico will be immediately doubled,” Trump wrote.
Claudia Sheinbaum, the president of Mexico, acknowledged that a group was walking north but said no migrant caravan has reached the U.S. border since Trump returned to power.
This is the third caravan to try to reach the United States since September. The first two were broken up before leaving Chiapas, and their members were given temporary stay permits. On Tuesday, a separate group of about 100 was stopped by Mexico’s National Guard, immigration authorities and police as it crossed the Suchiate River from Guatemala, and about 40 people were detained.
Tapachula is a key transit point for migrants heading to the United States. Thousands have become stranded there because of U.S. entry restrictions and deportations, with few jobs, little health care and limited access to schools.
Cesar Sandoval, a 47-year-old from Nicaragua, was deported from the United States a few months ago. “There might be a light at the end of the tunnel, a way for us to get in,” he said. “We believe the Democrats will help us.”
Ivan Porraz, a researcher at the College of the Southern Border, said, “As long as Trump remains president, the deportations will not stop.”
Trump’s threat came as the United States and Mexico negotiate a trade deal. Trump decided in July not to extend the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Trump did not say which tariffs he would double, and he set no deadline. It is also not yet known whether the caravan will reach the U.S. border.
