Organizers in Central America told participants that according to UN rules, the United States must take them in. Some told Ana Quintana of the Heritage Foundation, who has traveled with the would-be migrants through Mexico, that “the UN will be there, at the border,” to sign them in, she says.

That, of course, didn’t happen. Not one flower-bearing UN official was on hand when the migrants reached America’s doorstep. President Trump, who has made immigration one of his top political issues, ordered the border shut. Thousands of would-be immigrants to the United States remain on the Mexican side of the border.

Meanwhile, Joseph Humire, an independent counterterrorism specialist who embedded himself in the caravans, positively identified a tiny minority of criminals, as well as men from Asia, Africa and the Mideast, who joined in. If these troublemakers feel cornered, he says, they could become much more violent than they’ve been so far. “It’s the wounded-dog syndrome,” he says. “Once injured, he becomes more dangerous.”

But for now, the migration hot potato is in the hands of AMLO, as the new Mexican president is known. That’s probably not what the anti-Yanks wanted or expected.