HUIXTLA: Thousands of Honduran migrants heading to the United States -- a caravan President Donald Trump has referred to as an "assault on our country" -- stopped to relaxation Tuesday after strolling for two days into Mexican territory.
Sleeping on cardboard packing containers or plastic bags, the migrants set up an enormous, impromptu camp within the southern town of Huixtla, 70 kilometers (45 miles) from the Mexico-Guatemala border.
Many nursed bleeding ft mangled by way of 10 days of strolling nearly 800 kilometers in plastic shoes or flip-flops.
"They're exhausted," mentioned migrant rights activist Rodrigo Abeja, of the crowd Pueblos Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders), which is accompanying the caravan.
"They're going to rest here today and tonight," and then continue their journey north, he advised AFP.
More than 7,000 other people have now joined the caravan, in line with the United Nations, together with some Central Americans who have been already in Mexico.
Many of the migrants are fleeing poverty and insecurity in Honduras, where robust street gangs rule their turf with brutal violence.
The caravan has turn out to be a politically loaded issue, with handiest two weeks to head prior to the United States votes in key midterm elections.
Trump has taken to attacking it frequently -- both on Twitter and at the marketing campaign trail -- firing up his conservative base with the anti-immigration rhetoric that helped get him elected in 2016.
On Monday, he mentioned america would start slicing support to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador for failing to stop the migrants, referred to as the caravan a countrywide emergency and alleged it used to be infiltrated by way of "Middle Easterners" and contributors of the ultra-violent gang MS-13.
Adding to the political tempest, Vice President Mike Pence mentioned Tuesday that in line with Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, the caravan "was organized by leftist groups in Honduras financed by Venezuela and sent north to challenge our sovereignty."
US Customs and Border Protection in the meantime mentioned it had apprehended a document 16,658 people who arrived within the nation illegally in households ultimate month, up 900 from August and nearly 12,000 from September 2017.
A senior administration legitimate referred to as the surge a "crisis."
Mexico vowed not to bow to outside power to halt the caravan. But activists accused the rustic of violating the migrants' rights by way of detaining somebody who attempted to use for asylum.
Mexican authorities mentioned that they had registered 1,699 asylum programs from caravan vacationers who opted to enter the rustic legally. Another 495 migrants have voluntarily requested to be returned to Honduras, they mentioned.
Late Monday, Mexico allowed about 400 migrants to enter the rustic once they spent days packed onto a bridge over the Suchiate River, which forms Mexico's southern border with Guatemala.
The caravan had stormed thru a sequence of border obstacles Friday and flooded onto the bridge, but masses of Mexican rise up police blocked their passage.
Most of the migrants then swam or took rafts across the river, but one group had remained camped out at the bridge.
Another group of about 1,000 Hondurans in the meantime began a separate march Sunday across Guatemala, headed for Mexico and then the United States.
Migrants in the main caravan -- which set out on October 13 from San Pedro Sula, Honduras -- had been touring on foot or hitching rides on passing automobiles and vehicles, frequently crowding onto them precariously.
Two migrants had been killed once they fell off vehicles that permit them hitch a trip, in line with authorities in Mexico and Guatemala.
Caravan contributors additionally face the specter of being robbed, kidnapped or killed by way of Mexican gangs that extort migrants on their journey.
Humanitarian organizations estimate that one-fourth of the caravan's contributors are kids, a representative of Save the Children advised AFP.
Guadalupe Del Carmen, 29, who is touring together with her nine-year-old son, recounted the difficulty of the adventure -- equivalent to the moment her son began to cry, "Mommy, I don't want to do this anymore" whilst crossing the Suchiate River on a raft made of inner tubes.
"He wanted to go back to Honduras. But I explained we can't go back, that the situation in our country is too difficult and that's why we had to run away," she mentioned quietly.
With a murder price of 43 in keeping with 100,000 citizens, Honduras is likely one of the most violent countries on the planet.
Sleeping on cardboard packing containers or plastic bags, the migrants set up an enormous, impromptu camp within the southern town of Huixtla, 70 kilometers (45 miles) from the Mexico-Guatemala border.
Many nursed bleeding ft mangled by way of 10 days of strolling nearly 800 kilometers in plastic shoes or flip-flops.
"They're exhausted," mentioned migrant rights activist Rodrigo Abeja, of the crowd Pueblos Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders), which is accompanying the caravan.
"They're going to rest here today and tonight," and then continue their journey north, he advised AFP.
More than 7,000 other people have now joined the caravan, in line with the United Nations, together with some Central Americans who have been already in Mexico.
Many of the migrants are fleeing poverty and insecurity in Honduras, where robust street gangs rule their turf with brutal violence.
The caravan has turn out to be a politically loaded issue, with handiest two weeks to head prior to the United States votes in key midterm elections.
Trump has taken to attacking it frequently -- both on Twitter and at the marketing campaign trail -- firing up his conservative base with the anti-immigration rhetoric that helped get him elected in 2016.
On Monday, he mentioned america would start slicing support to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador for failing to stop the migrants, referred to as the caravan a countrywide emergency and alleged it used to be infiltrated by way of "Middle Easterners" and contributors of the ultra-violent gang MS-13.
Adding to the political tempest, Vice President Mike Pence mentioned Tuesday that in line with Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, the caravan "was organized by leftist groups in Honduras financed by Venezuela and sent north to challenge our sovereignty."
US Customs and Border Protection in the meantime mentioned it had apprehended a document 16,658 people who arrived within the nation illegally in households ultimate month, up 900 from August and nearly 12,000 from September 2017.
A senior administration legitimate referred to as the surge a "crisis."
Mexico vowed not to bow to outside power to halt the caravan. But activists accused the rustic of violating the migrants' rights by way of detaining somebody who attempted to use for asylum.
Mexican authorities mentioned that they had registered 1,699 asylum programs from caravan vacationers who opted to enter the rustic legally. Another 495 migrants have voluntarily requested to be returned to Honduras, they mentioned.
Late Monday, Mexico allowed about 400 migrants to enter the rustic once they spent days packed onto a bridge over the Suchiate River, which forms Mexico's southern border with Guatemala.
The caravan had stormed thru a sequence of border obstacles Friday and flooded onto the bridge, but masses of Mexican rise up police blocked their passage.
Most of the migrants then swam or took rafts across the river, but one group had remained camped out at the bridge.
Another group of about 1,000 Hondurans in the meantime began a separate march Sunday across Guatemala, headed for Mexico and then the United States.
Migrants in the main caravan -- which set out on October 13 from San Pedro Sula, Honduras -- had been touring on foot or hitching rides on passing automobiles and vehicles, frequently crowding onto them precariously.
Two migrants had been killed once they fell off vehicles that permit them hitch a trip, in line with authorities in Mexico and Guatemala.
Caravan contributors additionally face the specter of being robbed, kidnapped or killed by way of Mexican gangs that extort migrants on their journey.
Humanitarian organizations estimate that one-fourth of the caravan's contributors are kids, a representative of Save the Children advised AFP.
Guadalupe Del Carmen, 29, who is touring together with her nine-year-old son, recounted the difficulty of the adventure -- equivalent to the moment her son began to cry, "Mommy, I don't want to do this anymore" whilst crossing the Suchiate River on a raft made of inner tubes.
"He wanted to go back to Honduras. But I explained we can't go back, that the situation in our country is too difficult and that's why we had to run away," she mentioned quietly.
With a murder price of 43 in keeping with 100,000 citizens, Honduras is likely one of the most violent countries on the planet.
Migrant caravan stops to rest in Mexico amid Trump threats
![Migrant caravan stops to rest in Mexico amid Trump threats]()
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October 24, 2018
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