Trump added: “Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the U.S.”
He also connected the march to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects people who came to the United States as children and remained illegally.
“These big flows of people are all trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act!” the president tweeted.
But the end goal of the march has nothing to do with DACA and instead, Mensing said, will see participants legally claiming asylum at an official border entry point.
“All are people who are fleeing some form of violence or persecution in Central America,” he said.
Both caravans last year ended at California’s San Ysidros border crossing, near San Diego, Mensing added. This year’s started on March 25, in the city of Tapachula, in Mexico’s far south, he said.
Mexico’s foreign minister, Luis Videgaray, took issue with Trump’s accusation that Mexico was taking little action on migration, tweeting, \"Every day Mexico and the US work together on migration throughout the region.\"
Migrating through Mexico can prove dangerous for Central Americans headed north. Many fall victim to human traffickers and suffer abuses. Banding together has helped promote safety, Mensing said.
\"They are really leading this and protecting themselves as they flee,” he said.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/mexico-migrants-4-rt-jt-180401_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Jose Torres/Reuters
PHOTO: Hundreds of Central Americans attend a mass before they begin a Via Crucis on Palm Sunday, demanding respect for their human rights, asylum and reports of violence in their countries in Tapachula, Mexico, March 25, 2018.
