Mexicans troops repel migrant caravan: report

HUNDREDS of Central Americans from a new migrant caravan tried to storm into Mexico Monday by fording the river that divides the country from Guatemala, but National Guardsmen fired tear gas to force them back.

The Central Americans, from the so-called “2020 Caravan” of around 3,500 undocumented migrants, gathered on the Guatemalan side of the Suchiate River at dawn, demanding migration authorities let them continue their journey to the United States.

When authorities did not immediately respond, the migrants began wading across the river, which is shallow this time of year.

Mexican troops fired tear gas to force them back, leading to scenes of chaos as huge crowds of people flailed across the river.

Scores of migrants, many with cloths tied around their faces to protect them from the gas, pelted the military police guarding the southern border with large stones, as the latter sheltered behind riot shields.

“Let us through! Put your hands on your hearts,” shouted one migrant, Jorge, who was trying to ford the river with his wife and two young children.

Dozens of migrants made it through the security cordon, but the majority were forced back.

Around 200 who made it through were later detained, authorities said. An AFP correspondent saw large groups of them being rounded up along a highway and loaded onto buses and trucks -- some after trying and failing to run away.

Mexico’s migration authority said the country was ready to welcome foreigners as long as they entered the country in a “lawful, safe and orderly” way.

“They’re trying to trick us. They tell us to enter the country legally, but then they deport us,” said one migrant, Tania, who has been with the caravan since it set out last week from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, around 650 kilometers (400 miles) away.