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A crowd of Central American migrants continue their journey to the US border in southern Mexico. They reached at least 5,000 people on Sunday.
UNITED STATES TODAY & # 39; HUI

Honduran migrants are taking part in a caravan heading to the United States, in the suburbs of Tapachula, to Huixtla, Mexico, on 22 October 2018.(Photo: Johan Ordonez, AFP / Getty Images)

HUIXTLA, Mexico – Central American migrants crossing Mexico as part of a controversial caravan are advancing in their long trek to the US-Mexico border – albeit with fewer people.

The Mexican government announced Tuesday night that the number of caravan migrants had dropped to about 4,500 people, who had dropped out of school either after seeking asylum in Mexico or choosing to return home.

The Mexican Ministry of the Interior said that immigration officers had received 1,699 asylum applications, while 495 Hondurans had asked to be returned to their country of origin. Central American migrants come mostly from Honduras but also include Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala.

Mexican authorities now estimate that about 4,500 people will participate in the caravan. The status of about 500 other migrants is unknown. United Nations officials estimated Monday that there were more than 7,200 migrants in the caravan.

The caravan became a hot political issue after the mid-term elections in the United States in just two weeks. President Donald Trump has vowed to send US troops to meet with migrants at the US-Mexico border and has accused Democrats and leftist groups of financially supporting the caravan.

Trump talked about the last caravan of migrants since last week, referring to Twitter to tear the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras for failing to handle the crisis and threatening to further reduce US aid to these countries. country. He also blamed Mexico, although his government sent a federal police force and joined more than 30 US officials to examine migrants' asylum claims before they arrived in the United States.

"It's really unfair to the millions of people who are waiting online to legally go to our country," Trump said in a rude exchange with reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters on Tuesday that the caravan was violating Mexico's laws and that the US would not allow it to violate US laws.

Some would say that it is a "heart position," he said, but the United States is "historically generous" when it comes to welcoming immigrants.

His message to the people in the caravan: "Come here legally."

"From a security point of view, there is no proper accounting for these people. He said this poses an "unacceptable risk" in the United States.

Trump told the US TODAY HUI in an exclusive interview on Air Force One Monday, he would send as many soldiers as needed to the US-Mexico border to block the caravan, calling their march "an badault on our country".

The wave of migrants pbaded Tuesday in the small town of Huixtla in southern Mexico, where many campers camped in green spots in the city square before continuing their arduous journey north. They were at least 1,100 miles from McAllen, Texas, the closest entrance to the US-Mexico border.

The center of Huixtla, a town of about 30,000, was teeming with migrants seeking shelter from the sun under tarpaulins and shady sidewalks. Religious groups served food and drink, while locals sold everything from simple cigarettes to coconut treats dipped in hot sauce.

Among the migrants: Kevin Maldonado. The 20-year-old Honduran said that he had walked six hours between Tapachula and Huixtla under a scorching sun, pbading a checkpoint of Mexican immigration just before entering Huixtla.

"We are tired," he said from the sidewalk in front of a photo shop where he had slept the night before. "But the caravan will continue."

Maldonado said he had been drinking coffee in western Honduras, where US Customs protection and border protection statistics reveal a mbadive exodus of migrants. But, he said, a drop in coffee prices has prompted him to consider taking the trap of traveling to the United States.

He said he was not discouraged or deterred by Trump's remarks and threats that the caravan would be stopped by soldiers, if necessary, and remains optimistic that he could travel to the United States.

"Maybe he will change his heart and give us a chance," he said.

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Maldonado said he did not know exactly how he would travel to the United States, which would require crossing Mexico, where crimes against migrants include kidnapping for ransom, extortion and rape.

But he saw a report on a Honduran television channel about the organization of the caravan and thought it was an opportunity for him to flee the poverty that raged in his homeland.

Danilo Ruiz, 26, also joined the caravan after watching a report on television.

"We were going to leave for the United States in January," he said, while he was resting in Huixtla with three friends, all identified as LGBTQ and citing "discrimination and violence" in their departure.

"We saw the news of this caravan, packed our bags and left the next day."

The caravan started on October 12th. About 120 migrants gathered in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, near the Guatemalan border, ready to embark on a long march towards the US agreement on Honduran television. It is not unusual for so many people to unite, as migrants have increasingly left their home countries to defend themselves from the criminal gangs that exploit them on their journey to Central America and Mexico. The caravan has already crossed Guatemala and crosses southern Mexico.

No group or person took the credit of organizing the mbad movement of more than 7,200 people at one point, but representatives of Pueblo Sin Fronteras were often quoted by the media as alleged leaders of the caravan. The group organized a similar caravan, smaller, in April.

"There is no one running this case," Alex Mensing, an organizer for Pueblo Sin Fronteras, an immigration rights group, told TODAY USA. "It's a mbadive exodus."

Rodrigo Abeja, who is also part of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, said that extreme poverty and uncontrolled gang violence have pushed migrants out of their country.

"The organizer of this caravan is the number one hunger, two dead," he said.

The migrants board a truck as they take part in a caravan to the United States, in the suburbs of Tapachula, en route to Huixtla, Mexico. (Photo: PEDRO PARDO / AFP / Getty Images)

More: President Trump blames Democrats on immigration and caravan at rally for Ted Cruz

More: Caravan migrants flood southern Mexico, pulling suitcases and hoping to reach the US-Mexico border

Contribute: Sergio Bustos, Rick Jervis and Deirdre Shesgreen from the United States today; The Associated Press.

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