Thousands of Central American migrants travelling together to enter the United States have hunkered down in shelters in a southern Mexico city along its border with Guatemala, according to local officials.
Thousands of Central American migrants travelling together to enter the United States have hunkered down in shelters in a southern Mexico city along its border with Guatemala, according to local officials.
The migrants pose a tough challenge to the Mexican government's pledge to stop the illegal travellers' plans to press ahead to the U.S. border.
More than 5,100 migrants have been registered in three shelters in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Hidalgo, while another 2,000 had camped out for the night in the town's central square, said Gerardo Hernandez, head of the local government's emergency services.
"It's really full. You can't even walk, there's just so many people," he said referring to the plaza. "So far, they're all peaceful, thank God."
In a statement on Saturday night, Mexico's federal government said "nearly 900 migrants" had arrived by unauthorized means, while 640 had been processed after being allowed to cross into the country via the international border crossing on the Suchite River that divides Guatemala from Mexico.
Earlier in the day, the presidents of Honduras and Guatemala said about 2,500 migrants had either already been repatriated to Honduras or were in transit back home, many using free bus tickets doled out by Guatemalan police.
Throngs of people continued to wait on the bridge border crossing, where on Saturday morning many pressed for limited opportunities to plead their case to immigration officials, while many others opted to cross the river illegally, either on jury-rigged rafts or by swimming.
The migrant rights group Pueblos Sin Fronteras also counted thousands of mostly Honduran migrants nearby Cuidad Hidalgo, although the figures did not exactly match.
Some 2,000 Honduran migrants were already back home after giving up on continuing to Mexico, Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales said at midday press conference in Guatemala City alongside his Honduran counterpart, President Juan Orlando Hernandez.
Hernandez said about 500 migrants were in transit back to Honduras, a roughly 12-hour trip by road.
"We are working to provide a peaceful and safe return trip and avoid that these movements keep happening in the future," said Morales.
The leaders of all three countries have come under intense pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who for days has warned that the caravan must be stopped. Trump has made it a political issue in the Nov. 6 mid-term U.S. congressional election, threatened to cut off regional aid, close the U.S.-Mexico border and deploy troops there if Mexico failed to halt the migrants.
Hernandez noted that migrants from elsewhere in the region had joined the caravan, along with others from "outside the region," though he did not cite specific nationalities. He added that planes would be used to fly children back home.
The migrants seemed confused over their next moves while it was equally unclear how Mexican authorities would react to so many unauthorized arrivals.
"This is not a caravan anymore. This is an exodus," said Ruben Figuerora of the Mesoamerican Migrant Movement, standing on the muddy bank of the Mexican side of the Suchite river, as a line of young male migrants walked past him after crossing on a raft.
1. Migrants take part in a new caravan
)
Honduran migrants taking part in a new caravan heading to the US, arrive at Chiquimula, Guatemala, on October 22, 2018. US President Donald Trump on Monday called the migrant caravan heading toward the US-Mexico border a national emergency, saying he has alerted the US border patrol and military.
Photo Credits: AFP
2. Guatemalan police officers talk to Honduran migrants
)
Guatemalan police officers talk to Honduran migrants taking part in a new caravan heading to the US, on their arrival to Chiquimula, Guatemala, on October 22, 2018. US President Donald Trump on Monday called the migrant caravan heading toward the US-Mexico border a national emergency, saying he has alerted the US border patrol and military.
Photo Credits: AFP
3. Honduran migrants arrive to Chiquimula, Guatemala
)
Honduran migrants taking part in a new caravan heading to the US, arrive to Chiquimula, Guatemala, on October 22, 2018. US President Donald Trump on Monday called the migrant caravan heading toward the US-Mexico border a national emergency, saying he has alerted the US border patrol and military.
Photo Credits: AFP
4. Migrant caravan heading toward the US-Mexico border a national emergency
)
Honduran migrants taking part in a caravan heading to the US, rest on their arrival to Huixtla, Chiapas state, Mexico, on October 22, 2018. President Donald Trump on Monday called the migrant caravan heading toward the US-Mexico border a national emergency, saying he has alerted the US border patrol and military.
Photo Credits: AFP
5. Honduran migrants wait to cross the border
)
Honduran migrants taking part in a caravan heading to the US, wait to cross the border from Ciudad Tecun Uman in Guatemala, to Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, on October 22, 2018. President Donald Trump on Monday called the migrant caravan heading toward the US-Mexico border a national emergency, saying he has alerted the US border patrol and military.
Photo Credits: AFP
6. American migrants walk on streets of Mexico
)
Central American migrants, who are part of a caravan of migrants trying to reach the United States, walk on a street as they continue their journey in Tapachula, Mexico October 22, 2018.
Photo Credits: AFP
7. Central American migrants continue their journey
)
Central American migrants, who are part of a caravan of migrants trying to reach the United States, hitchhike on a truck along the highway as they continue their journey in Tapachula, Mexico October 22, 2018.
Photo Credits: Reuters
8. Americans hitchhike on a truck along the highway
)
Central American migrants, who are part of a caravan of migrants trying to reach the United States, hitchhike on a truck along the highway as they continue their journey in Tapachula, Mexico October 22, 2018.
Photo Credits: Reuters
9. Migrants onboard a truck
)
Honduran migrants onboard a truck take part in a caravan heading to the US, in the outskirts of Tapachula, on their way to Huixtla, Chiapas state, Mexico, on October 22, 2018. President Donald Trump on Monday called the migrant caravan heading toward the US-Mexico border a national emergency, saying he has alerted the US border patrol and military.
Photo Credits: AFP
10. Migrants kids taking part in a caravan
)
Honduran migrants kids taking part in a caravan heading to the US, wait to cross the border from Ciudad Tecun Uman in Guatemala, to Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, on October 22, 2018. President Donald Trump on Monday called the migrant caravan heading toward the US-Mexico border a national emergency, saying he has alerted the US border patrol and military.
Photo Credits: AFP
11. 10-year-old boy peeks out of his blanket as he travels with caravan
)
Allan Jose, a 10-year-old boy from Honduras, peeks out of his blanket as he travels with a caravan of thousands of migrants from Central America en route to the United States, in Tapachula city centre, Mexico October 22, 2018.
Photo Credits: Reuters
12. Migrants place their hands forward for food donations
)
Migrants, part of a caravan of thousands from Central America en route to the United States, place their hands forward for food donations in the Tapachula city centre, Mexico October 22, 2018.
Photo Credits: Reuters
13. Migrants cross the Suchiate River
)
Honduran migrants heading in a caravan to de US, cross the Suchiate River, natural border between Guatemala and Mexico, in makeshift rafts, in Ciudad Tecun Uman, Guatemala, on October 22, 2018. - President Donald Trump on Monday called the migrant caravan heading toward the US-Mexico border a national emergency, saying he has alerted the US border patrol and military.
Photo Credits: AFP
14. Honduran migrants rest next to tents at International Mesoamerican Fair's venue
)
Honduran migrants heading in a caravan to the US, rest next to tents at the International Mesoamerican Fair's venue in Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico, on October 22, 2018. President Donald Trump on Monday called the migrant caravan heading toward the US-Mexico border a national emergency, saying he has alerted the US border patrol and military.
Photo Credits: AFP
15. Migrants rest alongside the route
)
Honduran migrants heading in a caravan to the US, rest alongside the route, in Metapa, Chiapas state, Mexico on October 22, 2018. President Donald Trump on Monday called the migrant caravan heading toward the US-Mexico border a national emergency, saying he has alerted the US border patrol and military.
Photo Credits: AFP
16. Caravan heads to US on the road linking Ciudad Hidalgo and Tapachula
)
Honduran migrants take part in a caravan heading to the US on the road linking Ciudad Hidalgo and Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico, on October 21, 2018. - Thousands of Honduran migrants resumed their march toward the United States on Sunday from the southern Mexican city of Ciudad Hidalgo, AFP journalists at the scene said.
Photo Credits: AFP
