Border Storm

The incident at the border between Mexico and the U.S. shows how wrong it is to keep migrants in the dark about their prospects for weeks on end. There is good reason why accurate information is one of the objectives in the U.N. migration compact.

At America’s southern border, what Donald Trump has always wanted to avoid – or should that be what he has always wanted? – has now happened. The president got footage in Tijuana to support his claim that a caravan of thousands of migrants from Central America was a horde of invaders. Although “invaders” presumably would not have chosen one of the most well-guarded parts of the border to invade the United States.

The incident shows how wrong it is to keep migrants in the dark about their prospects for weeks on end. The mayor of Tijuana made it clear to the stranded people they were not welcome. Meanwhile, Mexico’s future president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, apparently agreed with Trump that from now on migrants would be allowed to wait in Mexico for their American asylum claims to be heard, including for work permits. But there were only rumors about this.

That is why even families gave credence to a few ringleaders who caused a futile storming of the border. There is a good reason why one of the 23 objectives of the U.N. migration compact is to “provide accurate and timely information at all stages of migration.”