First in migrant caravan reach Mexico City, far from U.S. border
MEXICO CITY — Thousands of Central Americans from the migrant caravan that has become a major campaign issue in the U.S. midterm elections have begun arriving in Mexico City, still hundreds of miles from the border.
The migrants were being directed to a sprawling sports complex on the capital’s outskirts, where they were given food, water and provided basic services.
While hundreds had arrived in Mexico City by early Monday, authorities say they expect as many as 5,000 migrants at the sports center by Wednesday.
Mexico City officials have said they would be able to provide for the migrants despite the fact that the city and its environs are facing a major water shortage this week as workers try to repair the city’s aging water infrastructure.
The caravan that left Honduras more than three weeks ago has fragmented in recent days. Participants traveled mostly on foot through Chiapas and Oaxaca states in southern Mexico and then crossed into the Gulf state of Veracruz this past weekend.
But many have been offered rides or jumped on buses bound for the Mexican capital.
Many caravan participants — more than 2,000 migrants, according to media reports — left the city of Cordoba in Veracruz state early Wednesday en route to Mexico City, some 200 miles to the west.
The route through Mexico City represents a detour of hundreds of miles for the U.S.-bound migrants. The more direct course to the U.S.-Mexico frontier would have been through Tamaulipas state, which borders Mexico’s Veracruz state and the Texas border.
Caravan organizers said the exhausted and ailing migrants — who have traveled hundreds of miles, mostly on foot — needed time to recuperate and rest in the Mexican capital. Many are suffering from colds, blistered feet, insect bites and other ailments. Caravan representatives were also seeking to meet with Mexican political leaders in the country’s capital.
The more direct route to the U.S.-Mexico border through Tamaulipas state to the Rio Grande Valley region is considered extremely dangerous because of the presence of organized gangs that have long preyed on U.S.-bound Central American migrants.
It was not clear how long the caravan participants planned to remain in Mexico City nor where precisely they planned to head along the almost 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.
Mexico City lies some 650 miles from the nearest point along the U.S.-Mexico border, the Mexican city of Matamoros, across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas. Tijuana, across the border from San Diego, is 1,700 miles from Mexico City.
In the run-up to Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections, President Donald Trump has labeled the migrant caravan an "invasion," vowed that its members would not enter U.S. territory, and said thousands of troops would be deployed along the southwestern border to thwart the migrants’ advance.
The caravan took off Oct. 13 from the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, considered one of the most violent places in the world. Participants say they are fleeing violence and lack of opportunities in Honduras and other Central American nations and hope to resettle in the United States.