Caravans Trek North, Inspiring Others to Join
TAPACHULA, Mexico — One night last month, a caravan with thousands of Central American migrants hunkered down here in Tapachula, in southern Mexico.
Days later, a new group numbering in the hundreds arrived, fanning out across the central plaza. Now, two more caravans are on their way.
That the first of these caravans was able to move from Honduras into Guatemala and then into Mexico is inspiring others to travel in large groups, reversing the long- established logic of Central American migration to the United States by trading invisibility for safety in numbers. “Everybody wants to form another caravan,” said Tony David Gálvez, 22, a Honduran farmworker in the second caravan.
This new approach has been fueling anti-immigration sentiment in the United States. President Donald J. Trump has described the first caravan, which left Honduras on October 12, as an invading horde. He has sent troops to the border with Mexico and considered taking executive action to close that border to migrants.
Migrants in these caravans are aware that Mr. Trump is opposed to their entry to the United States, and have heard about the military deployment to the border. But many say they are driven by a deep faith that once they arrive at the border, Mr. Trump will be touched, and open the gates to them.
Migrant advocates like Miroslava Cerpas, from the Center for Human Rights Research and Promotion in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, warn that they might be separated, deported or hurt. But many are deeply religious, and “believe there will be a miracle, that some Moses will appear” to guide them, she said. “For these people, this is the caravan of hope.”
Mr. Trump has pressed Central American and Mexican governments to stop the migrants from con- tinuing north. The embattled presidents of Guatemala and Honduras, both leading governments that face corruption allegations, ordered security forces to halt the groups. The migrants just hiked past the officers sent to stop them. Mexican officials appear to be sensitive to the contrast they must draw with the Trump administration’s crackdown on migrants. At the same time, they are intent on keeping Mexico’s relationship with the United States solid.
The Mexican government invited migrants to apply for asylum, and almost 2,200 have accepted, the government said at the end of October.
But it was clear that Mexico lacks the ability to control the flow of Central Americans. Several migrants in the new caravan said they had been inspired by the success of the first group, which made its way into Mexico with relative ease.
Together, the trip is also cheaper, said the Reverend Mauro Verzeletti, a Catholic priest who directs Casa del Migrante, a shelter in Guatemala City. He said the migrants can shake off the “structure of coyotes, of drug traffickers or organized crime” that has controlled the trail for years, charging thousands of dollars.
When the first of the current wave of caravans left San Pedro Sula in Honduras, it was only a few hundred strong. Thousands joined as it crossed into Guatemala. The migrants clashed briefly with Guatemalan and Mexican security forces at the Suchiate River, which demarcates a stretch of the border between the countries. But efforts to halt the caravan’s advance gave way before its size, estimated then at about 7,000.
A follow- up caravan formed in the Honduran town of Comayagua. When it left, it numbered about 350, several migrants said. By the time it crossed the border with Guatemala, it had grown to about 1,500. Even more migrants joined as it moved across Guatemala.
When the second caravan arrived at Mexico’s southern border, a fight broke out. Migrants threw bottles and stones before the police drove them back with tear gas, witnesses said. One migrant was killed.
But the next day, the caravan’s members formed a human chain and waded across the Suchiate. Mexican marines did not intervene, said porters who work that stretch of river.
In Mexico, the first caravan has been met by an outpouring of support. But even the migrants were aware that others following their path might not meet with the same welcome.
The caravan is like a house guest, Mr. Gálvez said, laughing: “The first day he smells — and the third day he reeks.”