Ragged, growing army of migrants resumes march toward US

TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — A ragged army of Honduran migrants streamed through southern Mexico on Sunday heading toward the United States, after making an end-run around Mexican agents who briefly blocked them at the Guatemalan border. They received help at every turn from sympathetic Mexicans who offered food, water and clothing. Hundreds of locals driving pickups, vans and cargo trucks stopped to let them clamber aboard. Besi Jaqueline Lopez of the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula carried a stuffed polar bear in a winter cap that seemed out of place in the tropical heat. It’s the favorite – and only – toy of her two daughters, 4-year-old Victoria and 3-year-old Elisabeth, who trudged beside her gleaming with sweat. A business administration graduate, Lopez said she couldn’t find work back home and hopes to reach the United States, but would stay in Mexico if she could find employment here. “My goal is to find work for a better future for my daughters,” she said. In dozens of interviews along the journey, they have said they are fleeing widespread violence, poverty and corruption in Honduras. Guatemala’s migration agency confirmed that another group of about 1,000 migrants crossed into the country from Honduras on Sunday. After praising Mexico for its no-nonsense response when police at a southern border bridge pushed the migrants back with riot shields and pepper spray, U.S. President Donald Trump again hammered Democratic Party opponents over what he apparently sees as a winning issue for Republicans a little over two weeks ahead of midterm elections. After blaming the Democrats for “weak laws” on immigration a few days earlier, Trump said via Twitter: “The Caravans are a disgrace to the Democrat party. Change the immigration laws NOW!” “Full efforts are being made to stop the onslaught of illegal aliens from crossing our Souther (sic) Border,” he said in another tweet. “People have to apply for asylum in Mexico first, and if they fail to do that, the U.S. will turn them away. The courts are asking the U.S. to do things that are not doable!” Hundreds of migrants from the caravan did just that – applied for refugee status in Mexico in the southern city of Ciudad Hidalgo. But a far bigger group forded the Suchiate River from Guatemala to the Mexican side individually and dozens at a time, and resumed the trek at first light, marching 10 abreast on the highway. “Si se pudo!” they chanted in Spanish – “Yes, we could!” The throng grew even larger than when the migrants arrived at the border bridge Friday, swelling overnight to 5,000 or so. It was not immediately clear where the additional travelers came from since about 2,000 had been gathered on the Mexican side Saturday night. But people have been joining and leaving the caravan daily, some moving at their own pace

and strung out in a series of columns. Their destination Sunday was the city of Tapachula in Chiapas state. Under a blazing sun, small groups of 20 to 30 paused to rest in the shade of trees on the side of the road, and by afternoon the caravan had evolved into long lines of walkers straggling for miles.