Mexican authorities closed a border entry point as 2,500 Central American migrants tried to enter Mexico.

Central Americans try to enter by thousands

TECUN UMAN, Guatemala — Mexican authorities closed a border entry point in southern Mexico on Saturday after thousands of Central American migrants tried to push their way across a bridge spanning the Suchiate River between Mexico and Guatemala.

Honduran migrants waved their country’s flag and sang the national anthem as they approached the bridge. At the height of the confrontation, Guatemalan authorities estimated 2,500 migrants were on the bridge or attempting to get on it.

Mexican National Guardsmen slammed down a metal fence that reads “Welcome to Mexico” to block the path of the migrants.

Mexican officials did allow a few migrants to enter the country in groups of 20.

Piecemeal, more than 150 migrants entered to apply for asylum or some other variation of permission to stay in Mexico as the day wore on. But many migrants prefer to pass through Mexico en route to the United States.

Mexico’s National Migration Institute said via Twitter on Saturday that it had reinforced multiple points along the country’s southern border to assure “safe, orderly and regular immigration.” It also said it was using drones to monitor the region.

Hundreds of guardsmen lined the river to prevent migrants from crossing into Mexico clandestinely. The voice on the loudspeaker warned, over and over, that those aiming to transit through Mexico may not be granted asylum in the U.S., even if they make it there.

As temperatures rose Saturday, migrants trickled back across the bridge to Guatemala. By late afternoon, fewer than a hundred remained on the bridge.

Mexico’s government has said migrants entering the country without registering will not be allowed to pass from its southern border area. But those seeking asylum or other protections will be allowed to apply and legalize their status in Mexico.

El Salvador’s consul general in Mexico, Antonio Azúcar, told The Associated Press that Mexican authorities had reported that the migrants crossing into Mexican territory would be housed in Ciudad Hidalgo, the city on the banks of the Suchiate where the bridge standoff happened.

Marco Ugarte The Associated Press Migrants charge on Mexican National Guardsmen on Saturday at the border crossing between Guatemala and Mexico in Tecun Uman, Guatemala. Thousands of Central American migrants surged onto a bridge at the border between the two countries.