Mexico (OSV News) — Daniel Hernández Rabanales got the call two days in advance: A caravan was forming and he needed to be ready Hernández rallied his extended family and scrounged for donations His family and a team of volunteers met an estimated 700 weary caravan travelers with pots of beans and rice bags of bread rolls and bunches of bananas He also collected blankets and sheets of cardboard for the migrants to sleep on along with “lots of water” and electrolytes “They arrived dehydrated,” he said on a sweltering day in mid-October after the caravan had headed up the highway “We thank God we were able to feed the caravan that just left.” Hernández routinely meets caravans in the municipality of Huixtla — some 50 miles from the border with Guatemala in Mexico’s southern Chiapas state — where they arrive worn out They typically spend the day resting on a shaded basketball court then depart in the predawn hours to beat the scorching sun along the Pacific coast His willingness to assist caravans isn’t widely shared “People get tired of donating so often.” never tire of helping migrants — whether feeding caravans or providing meals from a small soup kitchen named for Mother Teresa or taking care packages to the local prison for migrants being held behind bars A lay preacher and longtime parishioner at the St cites his experience in parish life as an inspiration for helping migrants “When one dedicates oneself to preaching when one takes truth seriously,” Hernández told OSV News “Mercy is very important for a preacher because I am just going to say something and then do nothing to help others It must be accompanied by works of mercy.” Hernández is providing assistance to migrants at a difficult time — especially as Mexico increases enforcement ahead of the U.S Mexico has registered record migration detentions in 2024 Mexican immigration officials are sending migrants back to southern Mexico where they often lack the resources to run the gauntlet of checkpoints dotting the roadways running toward the U.S Migrants returned to southern Mexico try to obtain appointments for entering the U.S via the CBP One smartphone app — a system previously available once they reached Mexico City Many of the migrants congregate in Tapachula located between Huixtla and the Guatemala border where migrant advocates say shelters are full and there are few economic opportunities for sustaining themselves which provides 1,450 appointments daily — with thousands more actually applying — means most non-Mexicans have to wait an average of seven months waited approximately a month in Tapachula for a CBP One appointment He left Tapachula shortly thereafter with his wife and infant son on Oct border on a bus provided by Mexican immigration and escorted by Mexico’s National Guard But many migrants in Tapachula grew frustrated and some formed a caravan — which Hernández attended to “We waited a long time for the CPB One app,” describing it as “saturated.” Migrants in the caravan saw security in large numbers and several said they were kidnapped after crossing the Suchiate River into Mexico One Venezuelan migrant showed a receipt for 2,400 pesos (US $120) paid as a ransom by relatives along with a photo of a stamp on his arm as proof of payment Hernández has seen the creeping presence of criminal groups preying upon migrants further inland from the border and forced to pay ransoms of 40,000 pesos (US $2,000) the battling drug cartels “recruit migrants by force,” he said Six migrants were killed and 17 were injured after soldiers opened fire in early October on vehicles carrying migrants that failed to stop at a checkpoint Hernández and his wife went to the hospital after the incident but weren’t allowed to see the injured migrants And they couldn’t detain any of these coyotes first helped by inviting migrants into his and his wife’s home Mexican immigration officials were aggressive in past years barging into the parish to grab migrants and accusing Hernández of human trafficking He says he now has a good relationship with Mexican immigration which allows him to feed migrants without interference Hernández established a charity to help migrants in 1996 and opened a small soup kitchen — complete with a shrine featuring Niño Díos dressed as a migrant and a photo of Mother Theresa — who he called The soup kitchen was quiet during a recent visit with just four migrants visiting that day But Hernández and his family are always ready to serve “The flow of migrants (is) stronger and stronger,” he said “Every day it’s getting stronger.”  Print Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media Catholic Media Assocation Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association The Associated Church Press © 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Four died at the scene and 12 injured individuals were taken to a hospital in Huixtla A tragic incident that occurred this Tuesday on the highway segment Villa Comaltitlán-Huixtla left six migrants dead and several injured after military personnel mistakenly opened fire on a truck transporting migrants of various nationalities The Secretary of National Defense (SEDENA) issued a press release on the social network X informing that army members were preparing to conduct ground reconnaissance when they detected a pickup truck traveling at high speed "like those used by criminal groups in that region," the statement indicated He pointed out that the military personnel thought they heard detonations which caused two members to discharge their weapon "stopping one of the pickup trucks in its tracks." The shot-up truck was carrying 33 migrants of various nationalities of which four died on the spot and 12 were injured being transferred to the General Hospital of Huixtla The text of the document states that the migrants were of various nationalities The 17 migrants who were unharmed were placed under the custody of the National Institute of Migration The responsible military personnel were removed from their duties while the Attorney General's Office of the Republic and the Military Justice Prosecutor's Office investigate the incident to determine responsibilities The statement indicated that coordination was established with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to maintain contact with the corresponding embassies "reaffirms its commitment to act with strict adherence to the rule of law and is attentive to requests from civil authorities for the clarification of the facts." The news portal Diario del Sur reported that the two migrants who died upon arriving at the hospital due to the severity of their injuries were identified as Selvia including three of Egyptian nationality: Salas Four migrants from Nepal also received medical attention: Oli a 29-year-old man from Pakistan was also admitted along with four other individuals who have yet to be identified they indicated that the four deceased at the accident site and the two women who died upon arrival at the hospital were transferred to the Forensic Medical Service (SEMEFO) on board the forensic services vehicle of the State Attorney General's Office of the Coastal Zone THE BEST OF THE AMERICAN LATINO & MULTICULTURAL EXPERIENCE President-elect Donald Trump is committed to starting mass deportation proceedings once he takes office President-elect Donald Trump's plans for the largest deportation of migrants in US history would crash the economy sending inflation and unemployment soaring while undermining trust in the military The Republican leader has vowed to declare an immigration national emergency when he takes office in January and use troops to round up and expel the country's estimated 13 million undocumented migrants But a Democratic-led Senate session focusing on ways the move could harm Americans heard from witnesses including a former army chief and immigration experts who said the proposals were a threat to the wellbeing of all Americans "The president-elect's mass deportation plans would crash the American economy break up families and take a hammer to the foundations of our society by deporting nearly four percent of the entire US population," Aaron Reichlin-Melnick a senior fellow at the nonpartisan American Immigration Council He estimated that mass deportations would cost nearly $1 trillion and shave 4.2 percent to 6.8 percent from the economy -- matching the devastation wreaked by the global financial crash of 2008 The US government has struggled for decades to manage its border with Mexico and Trump claimed on the 2024 campaign trail that an "invasion" was underway by migrant rapists and murderers But Reichlin-Melnick said more than 90 percent of undocumented migrants have no criminal record and that most are either in education or employed in sectors such as construction restaurants and childcare that would suffer under Trump's plan Retired US Army major general Randy Manner said diverting the military to mass deportations would be divisive and harm operational readiness and morale arguing that troops were not trained or equipped for immigration enforcement a married father and an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia who testified that he was born in Sierra Leone and only discovered he was undocumented when he applied for a driver's license mass deportation would be devastating," he told the panel I know how delicate the ties between law enforcement and immigrants can be If immigrants are afraid to cooperate with the police -- or prosecutors like myself -- because they're afraid of deportation But there was pushback from the Republicans' witnesses raped and strangled in a 2023 case in which the alleged murderer had been deported three times I think deportation is necessary," she said "The American people should not feel afraid to live in their own homes," Morin added "We need to follow the laws that are already on the books cautioned against critiquing a plan that Trump has not yet finalized -- but added that whatever policy Trump settled on would "comport with law." kind-hearted people" who nevertheless felt betrayed by the immigration policies of President Joe Biden's administration which saw soaring illegal entries before a lull in 2024 THE BEST OF THE AMERICAN MULTICULTURAL EXPERIENCE The 2,000-strong migrant caravan which left Tapachula on Saturday arrived at its first major milestone on Monday After entering the town of Huixtla in heavy rain the majority of the travelers stayed in cramped conditions in a public sports field but the town’s many cheap hotels were also filled A Catholic church gave shelter to women traveling with children The root cause of the caravan cannot be explained by poverty alone: many of the migrants can afford cheap hotels and buy food in local restaurants how many of the convoy are traveling with no money at all Fears of a heavy-handed response by authorities are a constant. Tensions were high on Sunday night, spent in Huehuetán due to worries of an ambush by authorities while the migrants rested as did organizers’ concerns about a blockade on the way to Huixtla where caravans have been detained in the past Their concerns are reasonable: National Guard and National Immigration Institute (INM) vehicles tail the convoy and wait in its path but have so far regularly dispersed and regrouped farther along the highway An official from the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) who has previously accompanied larger caravans said security officials’ approach had been unorthodox on this occasion The group left Huehuetán at around 6:00 a.m Monday shortly before daybreak and the 18 kilometers to Huixtla would be the farthest that the caravan had walked in a day Organizer Luis García Villagrán led a prayer at the town’s exit and many raised their hands to the air as a sign of religious reverence Cries of “Freedom!” accompanied their departure from Huehuetán women and children remained at the rear of the caravan due to concerns for their safety in the event of confrontation with security officials that created problems for the convoy’s cohesion when those slower walkers lagged farther behind while stronger walkers at the front of the caravan accelerated away and women and children were encouraged to lead the caravan and dictate the pace which also made them more visible and available to the media who was presented to national television news channels said her group was looking after nine children said he left his country due to the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega “We have a president that’s worse than Hitler … You can see in the news you can see how many [political] murders there have been,” he said A woman collapsed exhausted after about two hours of walking in the hot conditions She received medical attention from representatives of the French NGO Doctors of the World despite migrants’ pleas for help from officials in a Health Ministry ambulance The caravan reached Segundo Cantón in the municipality of Tuzantan at about 11:30 a.m. The migrants dispersed into local hamlets to search for food and found a local tortillería and convenience stores and helped them charge their phones and prepared eggs and beans bought by the migrants in convenience stores They refused to accept a single peso for their assistance “You’re happy to be able to help others considering the situation they’re in,” family member Lorena Bravo said arriving during a rainstorm at about 4:00 p.m On Tuesday the group planned to rest before aiming to reach Escuintla on Wednesday Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Monday that the migrants were being lied to but we want to say that they are being deceived because it is not true that they are going to let them pass into the United States,” he said They are told ‘We’ll go as a caravan we’ll get to the United States and they are going to let us pass,'” he added Chief organizer Irineo Mújica has previously said the caravan is destined for Mexico City where the INM will be pressured to regularize the migrant’s legal status The organizers are not charging money to any of the migrants to travel with the caravan Many of the contingent felt they had no choice but to break the law by leaving Tapachula because of what they saw as negligence by the government refugee organization Comar and the INM The migrants who arrive at the United States border cross illegally in many cases knowing that they would be refused entry on the basis of their nationalities That is necessary even for those with asylum claims Nicaraguan and Venezuelan nationals due to the U.S opposition to governments in those countries But the logic is questionable: Honduras can be far more dangerous than those countries due to gang rule and the extortion of small business owners hoping to make asylum applications have generally been prevented from doing so in recent years So-called Title 42 authority first invoked by former president Donald Trump has been used to expel migrants from the country using the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext Yet Title 42 enforcement has seen migrants detained in cramped conditions in places that are ideal for contagion ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC Mexico – The Central American migrants moving their way through Mexico as part of a controversial caravan is forging ahead in its long journey to the U.S.-Mexico border — albeit with fewer people The Mexican government reported late Tuesday that the number of caravan migrants dipped to about 4,500 people with those dropping out either having applied for asylum in Mexico or having chosen to return home Mexico’s Interior Ministry said immigration officials have received 1,699 asylum claims while 495 Hondurans have asked to be returned to their country of origin The Central American migrants come mostly from Honduras but also includes those from Nicaragua The status of about 500 other migrants is unclear United Nation officials estimated Monday there were more than 7,200 migrants in the caravan The caravan has become a hot political issue with the U.S President Donald Trump has vowed to send U.S troops to meet the migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border and accused Democrats and left-leaning groups of financially-backing the caravan.   Trump has railed about the latest migrant caravan since last week taking to Twitter to rip the governments of El Salvador Guatemala and Honduras for failing to deal with the crisis and threatening to reduce U.S though its government has sent federal police and teamed up with more than 30 U.N officials to review asylum applications of migrants before they can get to the U.S “It’s really unfair to the millions of people that are waiting in line to come in legally into our country,” Trump said during a rambling exchange with reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters Tuesday that the caravan is violating Mexico’s laws and the U.S Some will say this is a “hardhearted stance,” he said but the United States is “a historically generous” when it comes to welcoming immigrants His message to those in the caravan: “Come here legally.” there is no proper accounting of who these individuals are He said it poses an “unacceptable risk” to the U.S Trump told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview aboard Air Force One Monday that he would send as many troops as necessary to the U.S.-Mexican border to block the caravan calling their trek “an assault on our country.” The wave of migrants spent Tuesday in the small southern Mexican town of Huixtla where many camped out on grassy spots in the town square before continuing their grueling trip north They were at least 1,100 miles from McAllen who sought shelter from the sun under tarps and on shaded sidewalks while locals sold them everything from single cigarettes to coconut treats smothered in hot sauce The 20-year-old from Honduras said he had walked six hours from Tapachula to Huixtla under a scorching sun passing through a Mexican immigration checkpoint just before entering Huixtla “We’re tired,” he said from the shade of the sidewalk outside a camera store “But the caravan is going to continue.” Maldonado said he had been picking coffee in western Honduras, where U.S Customs and Border Protection statistics show an outflow of large numbers of migrants a plunge in coffee prices prompted him to consider taking the treacherous trip to the United States He said he is not discouraged or dissuaded by Trump’s remarks and threats that the caravan would be stopped by soldiers, if necessary and remains optimistic he can get to the U.S “Maybe he’ll have a change of heart and give us a chance," he said Maldonado says he wasn’t sure how he’d travel to the U.S. where crimes against migrants include kidnapping for ransom But he saw a story on a Honduran television news channel about the caravan being organized and thought it was his chance to flee the poverty rampant in his homeland he too joined the caravan after seeing a news report on television “We were going to leave for the United States in January,” he said while resting in Huixtla with three friends, who all identified as LGBTQ and cited “discrimination and violence” for leaving immediately packed our bags and left the next day.” with around 120 migrants gathered in San Pedro Sula That so many would band together is not unusual because migrants have increasingly left their native countries in larger groups as a defense from criminal gangs that prey on them during the journey through Central America and Mexico. The caravan has already trekked through Guatemala and is passing through southern Mexico “There’s no one in charge of this thing,” Alex Mensing, an organizer for Pueblo Sin Fronteras said extreme poverty and unchecked gang violence have driven migrants to leave their homeland.  “The organizer of this caravan is number one hunger More: President Trump blasts Democrats over immigration, caravan during rally for Ted Cruz More: Caravan migrants flood southern Mexico, tugging suitcases and hopes of reaching U.S.-Mexico border Contributing: USA TODAY’s Sergio Bustos Rick Jervis and Deirdre Shesgreen; The Associated Press HUIXTLA, Mexico (AP) — After three days of walking along a scorching highway in southern Mexico a couple thousand migrants decided to rest here Tuesday receive medical attention for badly blistered feet wash clothing in the river and doze in any shade they could find Nitza Maldonado and Omar Rodríguez sprawled on the sidewalk beside a local church with their 6-year-old son The Honduran family had paid a smuggler $12,000 last year to get to the United States but they were nabbed in Texas and deported Due to the pandemic, they had lost their jobs there — she as an assistant at a law firm and he as a worker in a laundry. Back in Honduras they faced unemployment and debts from their failed attempt to migrate so they decided to leave again on their own Sleeping on the ground and sometimes eating only one meal a day they decided the risks of rough handling or deportation by Mexican authorities were worth joining the large group effort to walk north It has been years since Mexican authorities allowed such a large group of migrants to walk out of the southern state of Chiapas. Recent smaller attempts were dissolved, sometimes with excessive force, by National Guard troops and immigration agents after the migrants tired there was still no visible move to break up the group covering just 25 miles (41 kilometers) in three days Migrants took advantage of the pause to charge phones dry out from Monday's rain and cool off in the river left Honduras four months ago when their baby was only 20 days old Since then they've been in the southern Mexican city of Tapachula going regularly to Mexico's asylum office lining up before dawn as they attempted to get legal status Others spoke of similar frustration with the slow pace of Mexico's asylum office Rosibel Maldonado said she waited the 45 working days that the agency said it would take to process her asylum application Not all said they were trying to make it to the U.S Mexico has seen the number of asylum applications it receives skyrocket in recent years more than two-thirds of them in the Tapachula office While the government has tried to contain migrants to southern Mexico many seek to reach northern cities where there are far more employment opportunities than in the economically depressed south Carlos Fuentes was traveling with his wife and six children They want to make it to the northern city of Monterrey He said gang members tried to recruit his kids — the boys to sell drugs the girls as girlfriends — so they had to leave "We're out of money and so we decided to come with the caravan and thank God they haven't detained us," he said Falling tree limbs in Birmingham kills one person Mexico (AP) — Mexican border agents and police broke up a caravan of hundreds of migrants Sunday who had set out from southernmost Mexico — the fourth such caravan officials have raided in recent days immigration agents backed by police with anti-riot gear went into the crowd Hundreds of the migrants escaped running toward a river and hid in the vegetation "They began to hit me all over," a woman said amid tears alleging that police also beat her hustband and pulled one of her daughters from her arms I'm not leaving," she told an Associated Press camera crew But immigration agents surrounded the woman her husband and other child and detained them The government has insisted that excessive force against a Haitian migrant caught on camera the past weekend was an aberration and two immigration agents were suspended President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Thursday the strategy of containing migrants in the south was untenable on its own and more investment is needed in the region to keep Central Americans from leaving their homes. Thousands of mostly Haitian migrants stuck in Tapachula have increasingly protested in recent weeks. Many have been waiting there for months, some up to a year, for asylum requests to be processed. Mexico's refugee agency has been overwhelmed. So far this year, more than 77,000 people have applied for protected status in Mexico, 55,000 of those in Tapachula, where shelters are full. Unable to work legally and frustrated by the delay and poor conditions, hundreds have set out north. In effect until 10 AM Tuesday morning along & west of I-35. Very large hail and isolated tornadoes possible RADARMigrant caravan grows as it heads through southern Mexicoby EDGAR H VILLA COMALTITLAN, Mexico (AP) — A growing migrant caravan filled the square in this town in Chiapas state on Wednesday afternoon after knocking off another 13 miles of its trek across southern Mexico About 2,000 migrants had walked out of the southern city of Tapachula near the Guatemala border on Saturday While the multitude is challenging to count it appeared significantly larger when it left Huixtla after a day of rest and its leaders estimated its size at 4,000 It reached the town of Villa Comaltitlan on Wednesday who hearing that the caravan was advancing slowly got on a bicycle and caught up with them in Huixtla He said he would walk with them "as far as God gives us the strength .. immigration and military checkpoint where authorities typically seize drugs and look for human smugglers Though still significantly smaller than caravans in 2018 and 2019 this is the biggest group moving through southern Mexico since the pandemic started early last year Other groups that have walked out of Tapachula this year have numbered in the hundreds. All were dissolved by Mexican authorities Those groups were composed mostly of Haitian migrants This caravan is primarily made up of Central Americans The National Guard has not tried to intervene since it attempted to keep the migrants from Tapachula on Saturday There were scuffles and a child was injured Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said Monday the government would act "prudently," respecting the law and human rights police and immigration agents in the south and in recent years no large groups have made it out of the states bordering Guatemala Cristina Romero wants to make it to the United States to seek treatment for her 12-year-old son who suffers from a developmental delay but after waiting four months the answer came back negative "They told me I could appeal the case but that it could come out the same," she said "Then I heard about this caravan and I was up for coming." Mexico (AP) — Christmas Day meant the same as any other day for thousands of migrants walking through southern Mexico: more trudging under a hot sun a bottle of water and a banana handed out by a local church to some of the migrants in the town of Álvaro Obregón READ MORE: Biden considers new border restrictions as he tries to reach Senate deal for Ukraine aid Migrants spent Christmas night sleeping on a scrap of cardboard or plastic stretched out under an awning or tent to get an early start and avoid the worst of the heat a migrant from Honduras who was travelling with other adults and four children got to Álvaro Obregón too late Sunday to get any of the food being given out by the church So they had to buy whatever little they could afford ever been in the street before,” Ramírez said “Our Christmas dinner was some mortadella Mariela Amaya’s seven-year-old son didn’t understand why they had to spend Christmas this way “They don’t understand why we have to do this to get a better life,” Amaya said Nor did the governments of Mexico and the United States What little help there was came from local families one of whom gave out tamales — traditional seasonal fare — and water to the passing migrants The migrants included single adults but also entire families angry and frustrated at having to wait weeks or months in the nearby city of Tapachula for documents that might allow them to continue their journey Mexico claims it doesn’t give out transit visas but migrants keep hoping to get some sort of document so they could at least take buses to the border “This journey has been really hard for us migrants We need the (Mexican) immigration office and the government to have some pity on us and give us a safe conduct pass,” said Jessica García Mexico says it detected 680,000 migrants moving through the country in the first 11 months of 2023 the migrant caravan that set out Sunday was the largest one since June 2022 when a similarly sized group departed Tapachula And like the 2022 caravan — which started as U.S President Joe Biden hosted leaders in Los Angeles for the Summit of the Americas — this year’s Christmas caravan came a few days before U.S officials are to meet with their Mexican counterparts in Mexico City to explore ways of stemming the number of migrants showing up at the U.S The Mexican government has already said it is willing to help try to block migrants from crossing Mexico; the government had little choice officials briefly closed two vital Texas railway border crossings claiming they were overwhelmed by processing migrants That put a chokehold on freight moving from Mexico to the United States as well as grain needed to feed Mexican livestock moving south The rail crossings have since been reopened Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to arrive in Mexico City Wednesday to hammer out new agreements to control the surge of migrants seeking entry into the United States delegation will also include Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall as many as 10,000 migrants were arrested per day at the U.S Mexico agreed to take in migrants from countries such as Venezuela Nicaragua and Cuba who had been turned away by the U.S for not following rules that provided new legal pathways to asylum and other forms of migration aimed at curbing a post-pandemic jump in migration appears to be insufficient as numbers rise once again disrupting bilateral trade and stoking anti-migrant sentiment among conservative voters in the U.S Arrests for illegal crossing topped 2 million in each of the U.S reflecting technological changes that have made it easier for migrants to leave home to escape poverty © 1996 - 2025 NewsHour Productions LLC PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization Subscribe to Here's the Deal with Lisa Desjardins About 150 members of yet another caravan of migrants were detained in Chiapas on Sunday Some 500 National Guard (GN) troops and National Immigration Institute (INM) agents carried out an operation early Sunday morning to detain migrants who slept in Huixtla after arriving on foot from Tapachula late on Saturday It was the fourth time in eight days that federal authorities confronted Haitian Central American and South American migrants in southwestern Chiapas GN members and INM agents surrounded a municipal sports complex where members of the 600-strong caravan When the migrants became aware of the authorities’ presence many attempted to escape in darkness to the banks of the Huixtla River But the security forces detained about 150 migrants according to Tapachula-based newspaper El Orbe Some were detained at the municipal facility while others were rounded up at other locations in Huixtla There was at least one clash between migrants and authorities during which sticks and stones were allegedly thrown by both parties Detained migrants were reportedly taken to the Siglo XXI migrant detention center in Tapachula a city where thousands of migrants have been stranded due to the slow assessment of their asylum claims are likely to be deported to their countries of origin A Chiapas-based human rights monitoring and observation collective reported that children were separated from their parents during the early-morning operation in Huixtla A group of migrants who avoided capture gathered on train tracks in Huixtla and some continued their northward journey on rural roads while some took shelter in Huixtla churches and  homes The caravan members had planned to walk en masse to Escuintla on Sunday It was unclear how many migrants made it to the town located about 30 kilometers north of Huixtla but some boarded northward-bound public transit services El Orbe reported that federal authorities in Oaxaca were preparing containment operations in that state Ana Saiz, director of the migrant advocacy organization Sin Fronteras, said that operations against migrants – even those in which force is used as has occurred in recent days – won’t dissuade them from attempting to reach other Mexican cities or the United States “It’s clear that people who have fled to save their lives are absolutely determined,” she said “… The only thing these operations do is force people to hide and seek more dangerous routes,” Saiz said “… What is needed is for them to be attended to for the law to be complied with,” she said adding that INM agents must be monitored by the National Human Rights Commission the National Council to Prevent Discrimination and international organizations to ensure that agents don’t abuse their power More than 77,500 people filed asylum claims in Mexico between January and August The city is located just north of the Suchiate River on the Mexico-Guatemala border which hundreds of thousands of migrants have crossed in recent years en route to the United States or cities such as Mexico City and Tijuana With reports from El Orbe and Reforma  Majority of migrants rescued in Matehuala were from Central and South America and included 34 children Authorities have found 123 people from Central and South America trapped in a trailer in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosí, the country’s immigration agency said on Thursday. Officials from the state attorney general’s office found the people in Matehuala, a city on the border of Nuevo Leon, on Wednesday after a local reported hearing cries for help from a locked trailer box. Read moreThe majority rescued were from the Central American nations of Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador, as well as four from Ecuador and one from Cuba, according to Mexico’s National Immigration Institute. Among them were 34 children. The immigration agency did not say how they came to be stuck there nor where they were heading, but such groups of migrants typically hope to reach the United States. The same day police in Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, arrested three alleged human smugglers after finding 11 Guatemalan people trapped in a house, according to the Chihuahua state security department. Chihuahua’s attorney general has opened an investigation into the suspects, two of whom are 16 years old. Read moreKidnapping and extortion are familiar dangers for migrants travelling north through Mexico many of whom rely on payments to local gangs for safe passage a group of people walking from Guatemala blocked a highway near the southern town of Huixtla in Chiapas saying they feared they would come under attack by criminals if they kept walking They continued blocking the highway on Thursday hoping to pressure Mexican authorities to give them temporary documents allowing them to travel to the US border Despite Trump’s claims of criminals and ‘Middle Easterners’ the migrants heading north through Mexico tell of lives made impossible by gangs Still bleary-eyed after a night camped out in a rain-soaked town square Miriam Carranza combed the knots out of her daughter’s hair and listed the many challenges of life back in Honduras: the low pay and precarious job security at the maquiladora factory; the soaring inflation; the rampant insecurity But the final straw came when a local gang demanded payment of a “war tax” that far exceeded the income of Carranza and her construction worker husband “They said they would kill one of my daughters if we didn’t pay,” Carranza said as she struggled with seven-year-old Ashley’s unruly locks The family fled their home, and rather than risk making the journey north alone, they threw in their lot with the caravan of migrants currently making its way through southern Mexico. “Honduras just isn’t a country where you can live in peace,” said Carranza. More than 7,000 people have now joined the caravan, defying threats from Donald Trump and slowly advancing some 45 miles into Mexico since crossing the border from Guatemala at the weekend. After 10 days on the road, weary members of the caravan – which includes children and seniors as well as several people in wheelchairs – said they would rest on Tuesday in the town of Huixtla, before continuing their journey north. Read moreThe migrants’ persistence – and the failure of Mexico and Central American governments to stop them – has enraged Trump who has described the group as an “onslaught of illegal aliens” and made the apparently baseless claim that they include “criminals and unknown Middle Easterners” But the US president has also made the caravan a central part of his strategy for the US midterms seizing on the issue as a way to attack the Democrats baby-faced and cradling his six-month-old son he had set out from San Pedro Sula in Honduras a city with one of the highest murder rates in the world Gerson Martínez and his son Axel Photograph: David Agren/The GuardianUnable to find work after losing his job at a maquiladora he was approached by a local gang that pressured him to store weapons in his apartment my son will have to eventually have to join Many of the Honduran migrants describe similar tales of extortion and death threats: reporting such crimes to the police is risky and in a country riddled with corruption and dominated by organised crime moving to another city is no real solution “They gave me 24 hours,” said Aida Acevedo slicing her finger across her throat as she described how a gang had demanded extortion payments on pain of death She fled the rugged Olancho region with a vague plan to reach the US and find safety “God is the one who will decide if we make it,” she said Trump and other rightwing US politicians have suggested that the caravan has been funded by “Democrats” or the billionaire financier George Soros But Acevedo said she was already planning her escape from Honduras when she started seeing mentions of the caravan The exodus appears to have grown spontaneously announced on social media that he would be accompanying a group of 160 people who planned to start walking from San Pedro Sula on 12 October Fuentes was arrested in Guatemala and deported back to Honduras where he has since become the target of an online smear campaign but has always denied organizing the caravan The group is providing humanitarian and logistical support, but denies having a leadership role. “There’s not ‘an organiser’.” said Alex Mensing, a projects coordinator with Pueblo Sin Fronteras. “With the Syrian refugees, nobody looks for ‘an organiser’. This is a mass exodus.” A second caravan from Honduras is also reportedly heading towards Mexico. On Tuesday, Casa del Migrante, a migrant shelter in Guatemala City, said more than 1,000 people had joined the second group which is moving through Guatemala towards the Mexican border. For many in the caravan, the logic is simple: life at home is increasingly impossible, and travelling alone is too dangerous, especially in Mexico, where criminal gangs target migrants for rape, robbery and extortion. Read moreThe three countries of Central America’s “Northern Triangle” all face a combination of systematic corruption and violence fuelled by state forces all three are also still feeling the consequences of US intervention in the region’s 1980s civil wars Many Honduran travellers focused their fury not on Trump, but on their own deeply unpopular president, Juan Orlando Hernández, who was re-elected in December in elections plagued with allegations of fraud Washington was quick to recognize Hernández’s re-election, just as it supported the government installed in the country’s 2009 military-backed coup Like many others, Hernández spoke of a worsening daily grind back home, where bills and taxes have gone up as wages drop. Many companies have started charging for services in US dollars as the local currency, the lempira, plunges. Meanwhile, the country is struggling to take in a record number of deportees from the US, thanks to Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policies: more than 35,000 have arrived in the first six months of 2018, a 55% increase from the year before. Edin Mata, 21, was among them, having been detained in an immigration raid on his employer in Miami. In Miami, Mata had earned $160 a day working in construction. Back in Honduras, the only work he could find was selling clothes: he barely made $4 a day, and had to give a cut to the gangs. Removing his camouflage Duck Dynasty cap, he showed a scar on his scalp, left after a gang beating when he failed to make the payment. “We live like slaves in Honduras,” he said. “I lived so much better in the US.” Like many of the younger men in the group, Mata entered Mexico by swimming from Guatemala. He said that when he reached the country’s northern frontier he would again swim across the Rio Grande into Texas – a much tougher undertaking, he said, because “the currents are much stronger”. Such determination has kept the caravan moving northwards, despite Trump’s bluster. Ordinary Mexicans have pitched in too, passing out sandwiches and water, leaving out new shoes and clothes at the roadside, or giving them lifts a few miles down the road. Read moreThe caravan has left Mexican politicians in a bind: wary of angering Trump but unwilling to follow his example – at least in public Mexican immigration officials routinely detain and deport tens of thousands of Central Americans each year – even as the foreign ministry defends the rights of Mexican migrants living in the United States “Violent entry into the country cannot be permitted,” Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto said in a national address last week “Mexico remains willing to help the migrants who wish to enter the country respecting our laws.” President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador But he stopped short of repeating a campaign statement in which he said Mexico would not “do the dirty work” of foreign governments But many Mexicans called on the government to allow the caravan to pass through hurling an insult at the president as she handed out clothes and shoes as the migrants marched north from Tapachula Six migrants died on Tuesday night after the Mexican Army opened fire on vehicles that attempted to evade military personnel carrying out patrols in the southern state of Chiapas Ten other migrants were injured in the incident which occurred on a highway north of the city of Tapachula located near Mexico’s border with Guatemala President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday morning that those killed were from Egypt The Collective for the Monitoring of the Southern Border, an umbrella group of migrant advocacy and civil society organizations, said in a statement that four men The incident occurred just nine hours after Sheinbaum was sworn in as president, and on the eve of the 56th anniversary of the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre in Mexico City in which the Army opened fire on protesting students Sedena said in a statement on Wednesday that the shooting occurred on the highway between Huixtla and Villa Comaltitlán The ministry indicated that soldiers mistook the migrants for criminals Ahora fueron balazos, no abrazos.Militares victimaron a balazos en Chiapas a 6 migrantes e hirieron a 12 más, al confundirlos con integrantes de cártel.Hechos anoche en tramo Villa Comatitlán-Huixtla.Fue hallado camión con víctimas; había árabes, hindús, nepalíes, cubanos. pic.twitter.com/nYXd2eJAs5 — Jesús Rubén Peña (@revistacodigo21) October 3, 2024 detected a pick-up style vehicle traveling at high speed,” Sedena said adding that the vehicle “evaded” the military personnel after its occupants saw them Sedena said that two stake bed trucks “like those that crime groups in the region use” were traveling behind the pick-up truck “Military personnel said they heard explosions so two soldiers fired their weapons,” the ministry said adding that one of the stake bed trucks subsequently came to a halt military personnel identified 33 migrants of Egyptian 12 were injured and 17 were unharmed,” Sedena said apparently referring to Saudi Arabian citizens in the latter case “The military personnel administered first aid to the injured and immediately transferred them by vehicle to the General Hospital in Huixtla where unfortunately two more [migrants] lost their lives,” the ministry said “The 17 unharmed migrants were placed in the custody of the National Immigration Institute,” Sedena said The Defense Ministry said that the two soldiers who fired their weapons were stood down It also said that the Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) was notified of the incident given that “civilians were affected.” Sedena said that the FGR would investigate and determine “responsibilities” in the case Sheinbaum said that the two soldiers who shot the migrants were in the custody of the FGR — Jan-Albert Hootsen (@jahootsen) October 3, 2024 “First of all it’s a regrettable event and it has to be investigated and punished The personnel of the Defense Ministry who fired are already in the custody of the Federal Attorney General’s Office,” she said “It’s the Attorney General’s Office that has to do the investigation about how the events occurred,” Sheinbaum said adding that it will be up to the FGR to determine whether Army commanders are also at fault “A situation like this can’t be repeated,” said the new president Sheinbaum also said that the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Interior Ministry were in contact with the embassies of the countries from which the victims came The deaths of the six migrants came just one day after former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed into law a constitutional bill that places the National Guard under the control of Sedena There are concerns that the increased militarization of public security in Mexico will increase the risk of abuses being committed by the country’s security forces Mexican Army and navy personnel have previously been accused and/or convicted of a range of crimes, including murder In a statement Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “strongly” condemned the events that caused the deaths of six migrants through its diplomatic representation in Mexico will demand that the authorities of that country [carry out] an urgent investigation that … determines responsibility for this reprehensible act,” the ministry said “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide humanitarian assistance to … the family members of the [Peruvian] victim in these difficult circumstances,” it said In a joint post to the X social media platform the Mexico offices of the United Nations Refugee Agency the International Organization for Migration and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed their “concern” about the events in Chiapas that led to the death of six migrants and the wounding of 10 others the Collective for the Monitoring of the Southern Border said that “these events are neither accidental nor isolated.” “They are a consequence of the restrictive immigration policies that the Mexican state continues to implement,” the group said In recent years, Mexico has used federal security forces to detain migrants, large numbers of whom enter the country via the border with Guatemala and then travel northward via a variety of means with the ultimate objective of reaching the United States. Cartel violence has plagued the border region in Chiapas in recent times Federal security forces have previously opened fire on migrants, including in 2021, when the National Guard killed a Cuban man in Chiapas and wounded four others Mexico has came under pressure from the United States to do more to stem the flow of migrants to the border. At certain times during López Obrador’s six year term in government, enforcement against migrants was ramped up, including in 2019 after former U.S. president Donald Trump threatened to impose blanket tariffs on Mexican goods The number of migrants entering the United States between official ports of entry has recently declined after the current U.S. government implemented a new, more restrictive, border policy in June Mexico (AP) — A group of migrants that once numbered as many as 5,000 split on Thursday about whether to keeping walking through southern Mexico toward the U.S A group of about 2,000 mainly younger male migrants set out walking Thursday from the southern town of Huixtla decided to wait in Huixtla to see if they could get some sort of temporary exit visa The families were tired after walking some 25 miles since departing the city of Tapachula The goal of almost all the migrants is to reach the U.S But none of the migrant caravans that have crossed Mexico starting in 2018 have ever walked all the way to the border While some caravan participants reached the border in the past it was due to bus or car rides — which the government now tries to prevent Some of the migrants who apparently already got papers in Huixtla seemed to have left by their own means; with the exit visas Venezuelan migrant Junior Ramírez was still waiting for papers with about 15 members of his extended family at a National Immigration Institute post outside Huixtla where the migrants slept in the open air on Tuesday and Wednesday “Up to now they haven't told us whether they are going to give them to us,” Ramírez said a migrant advocate traveling with the caravan said Mexican authorities have been giving out the equivalent of exit visas which give migrants between one and three months to leave the country a migrant carrying such papers will either request asylum or leave Mexico — presumably over the U.S border — and wouldn't be sent back to their home country Josué Mendoza Rojas and Josmar de Nazaret Cárdenas “It's all confused,” said Mendoza Rojas said referring to the fact that migrants had tried to draw up their own lists of who would be in line to get papers The couple left Venezuela two months ago with their 1-year-old child and applied for an asylum appointment in Tapachula But they couldn't get an appointment until August and without enough money to wait until then they decided to leave and start walking north “We don't know what we're going to do yet,” he said Venezuelans make up a large proportion of this caravan A factor appears to be a policy change implemented by Mexico in January requiring Venezuelans to acquire a visa to enter the country Venezuelans had flown to Mexico City or Cancun as tourists and then made their way comfortably to the border The Mexican visa requirement drove the flow of Venezuelans into the shadows Those traveling in the caravan are just the visible sign of who is traveling through Mexico out of public view Many other Venezuelans have likely turned to smugglers Encounters with Venezuelans at the southwest border plunged from 22,779 in January to 3,073 in February But the flow of Venezuelan migrants has continued more than half of the 34,000 migrants who crossed the treacherous Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama were Venezuelans according to Panama’s National Migration Service some migrant smugglers have apparently begun offering a sea route into Panama Security officials in Panama said Thursday they had caught eight Colombian smugglers carrying 92 migrants — including Venezuelans and Ecuadorans among them 12 minors — on Panama's Caribbean coast the Mexican government has dissolved other caravans by offering to move migrants to other cities where they could legalize their status more quickly the government has tried to tire the migrants out by preventing passing trucks and buses from giving them rides Finding consensus on managing migration flows in the region was a top priority for representatives meeting this week at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles rewritten or redistributed without permission Mexico — The caravan of Central American migrants set out from this southern Mexican city in the predawn hours on Wednesday inching up the coastal highway in the state of Chiapas toward the municipality of Mapastepec The mass of migrants ambling along the highway didn’t seem to know where they would end up on this day but they do know their desired destination: the United States midterm elections less than two weeks away the caravan has become a hot political issue that President Donald Trump has pounced on to drive home his administration’s strict border security policies troops to meet the migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, threatened to further cut U.S aid to Central American countries and accused Democrats and left-leaning groups of financially-backing the caravan The migrants and their supporters have said they have been forced to abandon their homeland countries because of corrupt governments extreme poverty and horrific violence from gangs and other criminals where lawlessness rules “For those who want and advocate for illegal immigration, just take a good look at what has happened to Europe over the last 5 years. A total mess! They only wish they had that decision to make over again,” Trump tweeted Wednesday morning We have Strong Borders and will never accept people coming into our Country illegally!” Trump added The Mexican government reported late Wednesday that the number of caravan migrants had fallen to 3,630 people Those dropping out either applied for asylum in Mexico or chose to return home who are assisting Mexican authorities in reviewing claims of migrants said Monday that more than 7,200 people had participated in the caravan a U.S.-based organizer with the group Pubelo Sin Fronteras which is providing humanitarian assistance to the migrants said Wednesday that the size of the caravan has swelled to 10,000 people He told reporters in a conference call that the migrants were at least 1,000 miles away from the nearest border city in the U.S.  and that it could take a month or longer before they reach the United States The caravan late Wednesday began arriving reach Mapastepec They had traveled about 90 miles from the border with Guatemala since crossing into Mexico over the weekend. It is still unclear which route they will take to reach the U.S. Migrants traveling through Mexico toward the U.S but that is not possible with so many people traveling together at once He dismissed claims by the Trump administration and others that the caravan was being organized and funded by leftist or right-wing groups trying to influence the upcoming midterm U.S many migrants camped in Huixtla’s central square after spending two nights there endured searing heat and torrential downpours and battled boredom as they rested for the next leg of their journey Generous locals saw them off with sandwiches Cleanup crews moved in to sweep away the waste of what had resembled an impromptu refugee camp The caravan stretched for miles as migrants ambled along the Coastal Highway Mothers breastfed their babies along the side of the roads while fathers carried their kids on their shoulders Most of the migrants attempted to hitchhike and passing trucks would allow them to hop aboard Mexican immigration authorities operate internal checkpoints – similar in size to ports of entry on the border – including a modern facility between Huixtla and Mapastepec The caravan flowed through that checkpoint without being stopped on Wednesday A dump truck with migrants riding on top and hanging off the sides also passed through without revision “Nobody knows where we’re going,” said Honduran migrant Nelson Mencía Mencía said his feet were blistered after walking for days But he said he was “a little more rested” after the caravan paused for about 36 hours He joined the caravan after growing tired of making extortion payments in the rugged Olancho region of Honduras He showed no signs of giving up on his goal of going to the United States “I thought it was worth the risk to live a lot better,” he said of joining the caravan The mayor of Huixtla said approximately 200 people planned to either apply for asylum or return to Central America “My girls couldn’t hack it any long,” he said dejectedly as he sat on the curb outside city hall Contributing Arizona Republic reporter Daniel Gonzalez from Mexico City Shane Croucher is a Breaking News Editor based in London Shane joined Newsweek in February 2018 from IBT UK where he held various editorial roles covering different beats He is a graduate of the University of Lincoln You can reach Shane by emailing s.croucher@newsweek.com either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs really struggled to pronounce Huixtla during a segment on his show talking about the location of the migrant caravan producing instead a breathy mess of confused sounds that came out as "hwa-la-dah." Twitter user TrillSmith posted a clip of Dobbs's unique pronunciation during Lou Dobbs Tonight on Tuesday and it was shared thousands of times adding: "Man glitched up like his brain was on dial up internet lol." TheJonTolbert wrote: "Man had a mini stroke." The same clip was shown by Late Night's Seth Meyers on Wednesday The comedian said Trump and his allies at Fox News had been "obsessively" tracking the progress of the migrant caravan from Honduras north through central America The Mexican city of what??? pic.twitter.com/GxwprVFNW9 as Fox Host Lou Dobbs demonstrated last night they sometimes have difficulty pronouncing the locations," Meyers said That sounded like he had the world's shortest aneurysm The worst part of that is the city he was trying to pronounce was Mexico City I'd hate to see Lou Dobbs at a Taco Bell." On Thursday morning, Dobbs tweeted then deleted a post claiming the pipe bombs sent to high-profile Democrats and liberals were "fake." Explosive devices were sent in manilla envelopes to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton former CIA director John Brennan via the CNN offices in New York City and billionaire Democratic donor George Soros The mail bombs were return addressed to Rep The FBI is investigating and fears more mail bombs could be out there Investigators have so far made no statements on a potential suspect or motive "Who could possibly benefit by so much fakery?" He included the Trump campaign hashtags #AmericaFirst and #MAGA Dobbs addressed the pipe bombs on Twitter again—before deleting the post "Fake News has just successfully changed the narrative from the onslaught of illegal immigrants and broken border security to 'suspicious packages': Let's get back to Left-Wing driven Caravans and the Dimms who encourage them!" Dobbs tweeted with the same hashtags #MAGA #AmericaFirst #Dobbs Dobbs then tweeted: "Whether hoax or bombs they were clearly designed to influence election Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all Mexico — A caravan of migrants heading for the U.S about 1,000 miles and several weeks from the nearest U.S The migrants created a tarp city on their second stop into Mexico The mass exodus organized by activists in Honduras is believed to be the largest migrant caravan on record or about five times the size of the last one in April Most of the travelers tell CBS News they are fleeing extreme poverty but that is not a condition for asylum or refugee status in the U.S sent more than $300 million in foreign aid to Honduras Extreme poverty is coupled with extreme violence With some of the highest murder rates in the world Central America is home to four of the top six most deadly cities worldwide A tour of the migrant Caravan camp.... #CaravanaMigrantes pic.twitter.com/XfjtcXfpzS It was a needed break for Veronica Vasquez and they had been looking for each other since the day before Adriana Diaz is a co-host of "CBS Mornings Plus," a third hour of "CBS Mornings" broadcast on weekdays by several CBS-owned stations and simulcast on CBS News 24/7 CBS News and Stations' streaming news service Thousands of Central American migrants are walking through southern Mexico in hopes of reaching the US Thousands of Central American migrants, including men, women and entire families, are walking through southern Mexico, in the hope of reaching the US. Read moreHow many people are in the caravan?The group has grown steadily since setting out from the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula on 12 October but the exact size is unclear as there is no single organizing group Mexico’s interior ministry put the figure at 4,500 on Tuesday; local officials in the town Huixtla estimated the number of participants at closer to 6,000 while UN officials said there were 7,200 migrants Some people have already abandoned the caravan: 1,699 people have applied for asylum in Mexico and 495 Hondurans have asked to be repatriated The caravan started in Honduras and most of its participants are from that country, as well as El Salvador, Guatemala and some from Nicaragua Reporters travelling with the caravan have seen no evidence to support Donald Trump’s allegation that “Middle Easterners” had infiltrated the group, although migrants from Africa and Asia routinely travel through Mexico to reach the US Adam Isacson from the Washington Office on Latin America said that US and Mexican statistics show that just 869 people from the “Middle East Af-Pak and Saharan countries” were detained in the US border zone in 2017 – which represents 0.5% of total apprehensions in Mexico and an even smaller percentage of the US total Honduran members of the group said that they learned about the caravan from Facebook posts and a report on the local HCH television station which erroneously suggested that a former congressman and radio host would cover the costs of the journey Honduran migrants onboard a truck as they take part in a caravan heading to the US Photograph: Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty ImagesAfter that including the mistaken promise that any member would be given asylum in the US said he was desperate to flee threats from a local drug gang and when news of the caravan reached his neighbourhood he seized on it as his best chance to escape People in the group say they are fleeing grinding poverty and the violent crime which has helped turn Central America into one of the most dangerous regions of the world Brian Delarta, 30, a mechanic from La Ceiba, Honduras showed a pair gunshot wounds in the shoulder and leg – the result of a gang shootout in his neighbourhood water and electricity and extortion demands from the local gang had made it impossible to make ends meet A few Nicaraguan families in the group say they fled their country to escape political unrest and the violent government crackdown which has claimed more than 300 lives. Migrants say traveling en masse saves them from having to pay a coyote, or people smuggler, and offers some hope of protection from bandits who target migrants for kidnap, extortion and rape, as well as Mexican migration checkpoints which have sprung up across the country. No one in the group seems to know exactly which route they will take through Mexico. At the moment, the caravan is moving along the sparsely populated coast of the southern state of Chiapas, more than 1,243 miles (2,000km) from the US border. According to activist Jorge Andrade, migrants used take about 10 days to reach the US, but Mexico’s migration crackdown forces people to take more circuitous – and dangerous – routes, and the journey can now take months. Some people have mentioned climbing aboard the freight train known as La Bestia to hitch a ride through Mexico, but migration officials and bandits have made that a much less popular route in recent years. Some have speculated that the caravan might take a longer route towards California where they may hope to receive more sympathetic treatment in immigration courts than they would do at closer border crossings in Texas. The US vice-president, Mike Pence, has said that the Honduran president, Juan Orlando Hernández, told him that the caravan was being financed by the Venezuelan government, but neither has offered any evidence to support the claim, and reporters traveling with the group have seen no sign of Venezuelan involvement. Instead, most of the practical support has come from ordinary Mexicans, who have given everything from bottled water and clothes to tamales and ice cream to the passing migrants. Restaurant owner Rafael Gómez served 200 plates of beans, rice and tortillas to the group when they reached the town of Huixtla. “The people with the least are the ones helping the most,” he said. The local mayor, José Luis Laparra Calderón, said the municipality chipped in with food and drink, and also provided tarpaulin shelters. “There’s no assistance from the federal or state governments,” he said. Members of the migrant advocacy group Pueblo Sin Fronteras – which organized a similar, though much smaller caravan in April – are accompanying the migrants. But its staff deny any involvement in convening the current caravan. Members of the caravan say that there is no single organizer. Red Cross paramedics are treating the marchers for blisters, dehydration and other maladies aggravated by physical exertion in hot and humid conditions. Temperatures in Chiapas have hovered in the low 30s celsius (around 90F) and show little sign of dropping, despite occasional heavy rains. “Their hands are tied,” Mayor Laparra said, who said that a crackdown was unlikely because the large numbers of reporters and human rights observers travelling with the group. Most of the people who make it to the border are likely to turn themselves in to US authorities and claim asylum, although a few – mostly younger men – have said they will attempt to cross illegally if that is not possible. Trump has said he will not let caravan members in, but the US is legally obliged to consider the cases of asylum seekers. Read moreIf they pass the first step of the asylum process they will be held in detention or released in the US and face an immigration court months or are denied entry to the US on other grounds The April caravan of 1,500 people had shrunk to a few hundred by the time it reached the border. Of that group, 401 requested asylum, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it was not tracking the outcome of their asylum cases but they too are able to apply for asylum and the outcome of their cases is unknown June 11 (Reuters) – Mexican immigration authorities disbanded a migrant caravan of at least 7,000 people which coincided with the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles which migration activists said could be one of the region’s largest in recent years departed from the southern border city Tapachula on Monday It was made up of people from Central America Those measures include the United States and Canada committing to take more guest laborers providing legal pathways for people to come work and other countries agreeing to greater protections for migrants But some analysts were skeptical that the pledges are meaningful enough to make a significant difference Mexico also will accept more Central American workers © 2022 St Kitts Nevis Observer / Nevis Printing Ltd Newspaper Theme by tagDiv | All rights reserved Migrants seeking to enter the United States will again have to stay in Mexico as they await immigration hearings as the Biden administration reluctantly announced plans Thursday to reinstate the Trump-era policy and agreed to Mexico’s conditions for resuming it Revival of the “Remain in Mexico” policy comes even as the Biden administration manoeuvres to end it in a way that survives legal scrutiny but a lawsuit by Texas and Missouri forced him to put it back into effect Mexico’s foreign relations secretary said in light of US concessions Mexico will allow returns “for humanitarian reasons and for temporary stays” Mexico’s conditions include COVID-19 vaccinations for migrants more protection in dangerous Mexican border cities better access to attorneys and quicker resolution of cases About 70,000 asylum-seekers have been subject to the policy which President Donald Trump introduced in January 2019 and which Biden suspended on his first day in office Illegal border crossings fell sharply after Mexico facing Trump’s threat of higher tariffs acquiesced in 2019 to the policy’s rapid expansion Asylum-seekers were victims of major violence while waiting in Mexico and faced a slew of legal obstacles such as access to attorneys and case information View the discussion thread. Migrants rest on a railway bridge in an area in Huixtla before they continue with a caravan heading to Mexico City to apply for asylum and refugee status Mexico (Reuters) — Hundreds of migrants from Central America and the Caribbean trekked across Mexico on Wednesday the latest in a series of caravans that have sought to reach the U.S The United States has registered record levels of migration this year with Customs and Border Protection  agents apprehending or expelling more than 1.7 million migrants over the last 12 months The majority of the latest caravan members were families with young children who estimated that about 2,000 migrants were gathered on Tuesday in Huixtla in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas to rest and receive medical attention before resuming their journey north Among them was Arleth Chavez from Guatemala who had walked with the caravan for about 28 miles (45 km) since it departed the southern city of Tapachula over the weekend "My feet are burning and in pain from the blisters," said Chavez Migrants have denounced the lengthy asylum process in Tapachula located near Mexico's southern border with Guatemala and thousands have departed the city in a series of caravans this year Some members of the most recent caravan aim to reach Mexico City where they hope the asylum process might be faster government has put pressure on Mexico to contain migrants before reaching the U.S which operates about a hundred shelters across Mexico urged the country's authorities to end militarized immigration enforcement efforts that has caused an increase in human rights violations against transiting migrants The caravan's slow movement across Mexico comes as President Joe Biden has been facing increasing criticism from Republicans over the current high levels of migration which comes amid widespread violence and growing hunger in Central America and parts of the Caribbean Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell blasted Biden for the "record-shattering" number of unlawful migrants detained along the U.S.-Mexico border over the past year laying blame on what he described as an "intentionally unsecure border." Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: A moderate magnitude 4.1 earthquake occurred in the North Pacific Ocean 108 km (67 mi) from  Mexico in the late afternoon of Sunday The depth of the quake could not be determined but is assumed to be shallow.The quake was not felt (or at least not reported so).