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Migrants in a caravan coming from El Salvador and traveling to the United States take a Guatemalan highway. Group travel is considered safer and cheaper for migrants. (Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters)
SAN SALVADOR – When the sun rose on the Salvador del Mundo monument in San Salvador, dozens of future migrants with small backpacks and sports bags spread into the central square. They settled on the benches and stairs to wait for instructions.
In one hour, at least 100 people had gathered. At approximately 8:00 am, approximately 300 people all respond to the same WhatsApp group message at the venue and meeting place. In the far corner of the square, a voice shouted "Let's go," pushing the group into action.
In a few moments, all the migrants had risen, collected their belongings and had crossed the square, crossed the street and passed a petrol station – their first steps in a potential 1,600-kilometer journey to the United States. United.
The group, which left San Salvador on Wednesday, is now at least part of the fourth caravan from Central America to form since mid-October, when one left San Pedro Sula in Honduras to head north.
Caravans were once used sparingly to highlight a particular problem. A group of mothers from Central America, for example, crossed Mexico each year for 14 years in search of their missing sons and daughters on the migrant trail. The Mesoamerican Caravan for a Good Life has been organizing migrant caravans for years, including one in March, which has attracted the attention of the international community.
A man in the caravan sits in a park in Tecun Uman, Guatemala, on a 1,600-kilometer trip to the United States. (Jose Cabezas / Reuters)
But experts now predict that caravan-type treks could become a more common scene along the region's decades-old migration routes.
One of the reasons might be the attention given to caravans by American political races. This year's caravans coincided with mid-term elections in the United States and President Trump's attempts to portray migrants as a threat requiring military mobilization on the southern border.
Nevertheless, national attention has drawn attention to the potential benefits of caravans for migrants, such as increased safety along the route and shared resources. This could bring even more such groups into the future, say migrant activists.
"We have never seen caravans as an organizational strategy for traveling to the United States and crossing the border," said Celia Medrano, program manager at Cristosal, a San Salvador-based organization that works with migrants. "This is going to be the new method of irregular immigration."
[[[[Bandaged feet, bleeding hands: the caravan is doing well]
Group travel is perceived as safer and cheaper for migrants, who often pay between $ 7,000 and $ 10,000 to smugglers called coyotes to avoid the dangers of crossing Mexico. Migrants do not pay to join a caravan and many travel without much money to avoid being stolen. Rather than carrying lots of provisions, caravan members often rely on the generosity of people to feed them.
But caravans also have difficult logistical and political problems along the routes.
On October 22, Trump threatened to cut aid to Central American countries if they did not stop the flow of migrants, exerting increasing pressure on governments to They take a stand.
"The governmental institutions of all the countries were used to making invisible the phenomenon [of undocumented migrants], looking elsewhere, knowing that thousands of people are going into hiding, "said Medrano. "Now they can not deny it, they can not ignore it and they can not avoid confronting it because it's under their nose."
About 4,200 migrants from the first caravan make their way to Mexico. As more and more migrants gather, caravans gain legitimacy in the eyes of future migrants. (Jose Cabezas / Reuters)
In Honduras, the caravan has fueled already strong political tensions between President Juan Orlando Hernández and opposition leaders who call his re-election fraudulent. The promoters of the caravan on October 12 openly criticized the Honduran government and blamed the current government for creating conditions conducive to the flight of migrants. Hernandez has been trying to attract migrants to Honduras with the promise of a job.
Yet, although the Salvadoran government recognizes the right of its citizens to leave, it also felt obliged to warn future migrants about an often trying process.
Police, immigration officers and child protection agencies were dispatched to the place where the migrants gathered to talk about the travel documents they would need and the dangers of the trip. The underlying message was clear: do not leave.
[Gallery: Scenes among the migrants making their way north]
"We interviewed most of these Salvadoran citizens about the dangers of irregular migration to raise awareness," Evelyn Marroquin, director of the Migration and Aliens Branch, said in a statement. "At the last minute, they can think and give up this trip that can be so serious for them and their families."
These campaigns are "too late" for migrants who have already made the decision and who understand the risks, said Medrano. The government would have more impact, she said, as it helped reduce the crime and corruption that drives so many migrants out.
Migrants do not pay to join a caravan and many travel without much money to avoid being stolen. (Jose Cabezas / Reuters)
The wave of caravans has been particularly difficult for the Mexican government, which has devoted many resources to helping its northern neighbor prevent Central American migrants from reaching the US border by deporting them and making their homes illegal. more difficult journey.
The Mexican government has tried several strategies to stop caravans – border repression, promises of work permits and offers of asylum – but to no avail. The number of migrants from the first caravan to Mexico is still estimated at 4,200.
Trying to stop the caravan puts Mexico in a political dilemma. While the United States threatens political retaliation for not blocking caravans, Mexican citizens seem to overwhelmingly support migrants and their journey.
"They are caught between the concerns of the US government, which they want to respond to, and the Mexican public opinion, that they have to listen to," said Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, a think tank based in Washington. .
As more and more migrants gather, caravans gain legitimacy in the eyes of future migrants.
"If the images continue to convey people traveling together and if these people get farther, more people will see the groups as a safe way to travel and, hopefully, to reach the US border and ask for it. asylum, "said Maureen Meyer, director for Mexico and migrant rights at the Washington office for Latin America, a research organization.
The people in the caravan are waiting in line for food. Rather than carrying lots of provisions, caravan members often rely on the generosity of people to feed them. (Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters)
Even for migrant assistance groups, travel by the thousands poses new challenges.
Despite the considerable support given to caravans by many migrant rights organizations, these large groups may unknowingly complicate the work of networks designed to help them.
The Mexican network of safe havens for migrants and migrant rights, known as Zona Norte, said in a statement that it feared that the caravans could not overwhelm existing humanitarian resources on the Mexican side of the border.
The statement suggests that asylum seekers on the northern border "are spread in smaller groups in different border towns, which would better take into account basic needs such as food and first aid."
The possibility that caravans become more common depends in part on what will happen once the first groups reach the US-Mexico border. Signs that their asylum applications are rejected, for example, could deter future groups, Meyer said.
If caravans result in massive deportations, Central American institutions responsible for receiving and reintegrating deportees could collapse, said Medrano.
But as long as caravans remain a safe and viable option for migration, experts believe that they will continue.
"This is the new way," said Medrano, "to make visible what was previously invisible."
Joshua Partlow and Kevin Sieff in Mexico contributed to this report.
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