Caravan reaches Texas border

About 1,700 camp in Piedras Negras; U.S. pushes back

MEXICO CITY — A caravan of about 1,700 Central American migrants was camped Tuesday in the Mexican border city of Piedras Negras, just west of Eagle Pass, Texas.

While previous caravans had preferred the border city of Tijuana, the relatively open section of the border around Eagle Pass is marked mainly by the Rio Grande and lacks the long sections of high barriers found in Tijuana.

Still, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security vowed that the “lawless caravan” would not be allowed in.

“Approximately 2,000 aliens have arrived in northern Mexico as part of a ‘caravan’ seeking to cross the border into Texas. Illegal entry will not be tolerated and we stand ready to prevent it,” DHS Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen wrote in a statement Tuesday, adding “DHS will take all steps to ensure the safety and security of law enforcement personnel on the frontlines.”

Images from local media show

U.S. agents with riot gear and shields standing on a bridge separating Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras.

DHS said Border Patrol agents had already apprehended some migrants who crossed the border illegally overnight.

Coahuila state Gov. Miguel Angel Riquelme said about 1,700 migrants arrived late Monday aboard 49 buses from the cities of Saltillo and Arteaga. Another smaller group headed toward the neighboring state of Nuevo Leon.

An improvised shelter was set up for the migrants at an unused maquiladora factory, and local officials said the migrants had been given sleeping mats, blankets, food and wireless access.

The area from Piedras Negras east to Nuevo Laredo had long been dominated by the now-fragmented Zetas cartel.

The caravan was escorted by soldiers and police, and the state government said migrants wouldn’t be allowed to split off from the main group because “these types of caravans have been victims of organized crime groups that try to force the migrants to work for them.”

Previous caravans of mainly Honduran migrants had headed for the border city of Tijuana last year in their bid to reach the United States.

But Tijuana officials said their city was overwhelmed and unprepared to receive more migrants.