Mexican authorities assist migrant caravan

QUERETARO: Local Mexican officials are helping thousands of Central American migrants find rides on the next leg of their journey toward the US border.

At a toll plaza to the west of the central Mexico city of Queretaro, where the group spent Saturday night, police helped find trucks to take migrants and prevented them from trying to stop drivers themselves.

The government of Queretaro said via Twitter 6531 migrants had moved through the state between Friday and Saturday.

It said that 5771 of those were departing on Sunday morning after staying in three shelters it had prepared.

Those numbers appeared even higher than counts made by officials when the group was in Mexico City for several days, raising the possibility other migrants have caught up to the main caravan.

The migrants began walking before dawn on Sunday (local time) for Irapuato about 100km to the west after crossing into Guanajuato state, where local authorities also assisted them.

A day earlier a similar scene played out as the caravan exited Mexico City. Dedicated metro trains moved migrants across the capital before dawn, and at a toll plaza north of the city they formed orderly lines to wait for their turn to climb aboard passing 18wheelers set to take them 200km to Queretaro.

The migrants appear to be on a path to Tijuana across the border from San Diego, which is still some 2575km away.

The caravan became a campaign issue in US midterm elections, and US President Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of over 5000 military troops to the border to fend off the migrants. Trump claims there are criminals or even terrorists in the group.

Many migrants say they are fleeing rampant poverty, gang violence and political instability primarily in the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, and they have now been on the road for weeks.

Mexico has offered refuge, asylum or work visas to the migrants, and its government said 2697 temporary visas had been issued to individuals and families to cover them while they wait for the 45day application process for more permanent status. — AP

PHOTO: REUTERS Hitching a ride . . . A group of migrants, part of a caravan of thousands travelling from Central America on the way to the United States, travel in a chicken truck heading to Irapuato from Queretaro, Mexico, yesterday.