Migrant Caravan Re-Forms in Mexico, Marches Northward

Days after trying to break down the fence at the Guatemala-Mexico border, a mass caravan of migrants appears largely unbent in their desire to reach the United States, reports the AP. Their numbers swelled to about 5,000 overnight and at first light they set out walking toward the Mexican town of Tapachula, 10 abreast in a line stretching approximately a mile. It was not clear where the additional travelers had materialized from since about 2,000 gathered on the Mexican side Saturday night. They seemed likely to be people who had been waiting on the bridge over the Suchiate River or in the Guatemalan town of Tecun Uman and who decided to cross during the night. At dawn there were an estimated 1,500 migrants on the Guatemalan side hoping to enter legally. They marched through Mexico like a rag tag army, shouting slogans like "Si se pudo!" or "Yes, we could!" Other developments:

• The decision to re-form the caravan capped a day in which Mexican authorities again refused mass entry to migrants on the bridge, instead accepting small groups for asylum processing and giving out 45-day visitor permits to some. Mexico's Interior Department said it had received 640 refugee requests by Hondurans at the border crossing, including 104 children, reports the Wall Street Journal.
• After an emergency meeting in Guatemala, presidents Juan Orlando Hernandez of Honduras and Jimmy Morales of Guatemala said an estimated 5,400 migrants had entered Guatemala since the caravan was announced a week ago, and about 2,000 Hondurans have returned voluntarily, having been offered "a package of opportunities." Some 800 Guatemalans left the border via bus.

(More migrants stories.)