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On Friday, the caravan of migrants from at least 3,000 people crossed the border gates between Guatemala and Mexico and headed for a bridge leading to Mexico. (October 19)
AP
Central American migrants traveling to the United States start their day from Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico on Sunday, October 21, 2018.(Photo: Moises Castillo, AP)
A caravan of Central American migrants marching toward Mexico to the United States reached Sunday over 5,000 people despite President Donald Trump's threats to use the US military to seal the border .
The crowd, largely from Honduras, crossed a bridge over the Suchiate River connecting Guatemala to Mexico.
Gerardo Hernandez, chief of local government emergency services, told Reuters more than 5,100 migrants registered in three reception centers in Ciudad Hidalgo, a border town in Mexico. He added that another 2,000 people were camping in the central square.
"We can not even walk, there are so many people," he said. "Until here, they are all peaceful, thank God."
Many migrants have cited poverty, corruption and gang violence in Honduras for their flight. Mexico had tried to process asylum applications slowly in small groups, sometimes providing 45-day residence permits. But thousands of migrants have become impatient, bypassing the bureaucracy and crossing improvised rafts or simply swimming to Mexico undeterred by border authorities.
They were cheered by the crowd on the Mexican side who shouted "Venganse!" – Enter!
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The Mexican government warned participants in the caravan "against the serious risks" to which human trafficking networks could be exposed if they entered Mexico illegally. US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said on Sunday that the United States is keeping a close eye on the caravan's advance.
"We must remain vigilant to transnational criminal organizations and other criminals who exploit the vulnerabilities of those who embark on the process of irregular migration," she said in a statement.
Nielsen said the United States is working with "our partners in the region" to investigate and prosecute all profits from migration.
"We fully support the efforts of Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico to address this critical situation and to build a safer and more secure region," she said.
About 3,000 potential migrants left San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on 13 October. Their goal was to cross Guatemala and Mexico until the United States. Their number has fluctuated, sometimes exceeding only 1,000.
But Sunday, the crowd was large and the atmosphere was ecstatic. Olivin Castellanos, 58, a truck driver and mason from Villanueva, Honduras, said he had taken a raft to Mexico. He hopes to work in construction in the United States.
"No one will stop us except God," he said. "We knocked on the door and we continue to walk."
Trump has lobbied the three countries for them to stop the caravan, threatening to cut aid in the area and deploy troops along the border if the caravan reaches that goal. He made the caravan a central theme of the mid-term elections, accusing Democrats of supporting open borders and encouraging mass migration.
"I am ready to send military defend our southern border if necessary, because of the onslaught of illegal immigration introduced by the Democrats," he said at a rally for the campaign last week. "They like that, they also think that everyone coming in will vote Democrat, you know, Hey, they're not so stupid when you think about it."
Contribute: The Associated Press
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