A caravan of Central American migrants that has drawn frequent Twitter tirades from President Donald Trump ahead of the US mid-term elections rested and regrouped Monday at a stadium-turned-shelter in Mexico City before pressing on.
With their sights set on reaching the United States, some 5,000 migrants, mainly from violence-plagued Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, are expected to converge on Mexico City in the coming days and then continue their northward trek, authorities said.
The first 470 arrived Sunday in Mexico City and spent the night at a stadium on the capital's east side, where authorities have set up a large camp to host them and provide food and water.
By late Monday morning, some 2,000 people had arrived at the camp. Another 3,000 are expected to arrive by Wednesday, as the fragmented caravan regroups after dispersing across central and eastern Mexico, according to the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH).
The migrants are sleeping in tents, on the ground or on the cement bleachers of the stadium, in frigid nighttime temperatures of around 12 degrees Celsius in the high altitude of Mexico City.
Many were nursing colds or mangled feet after a trek of more than 1,600 kilometres that began on October 13 in the city of San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
"I couldn't sleep. I was cold and coughing all night," said Honduran Karla Membreno, 23, who is making the trek with her husband and brother-in-law.
But "we have to be strong. God gives us strength to carry on," she told AFP.
Medical staff were attending to migrants and giving flu shots at impromptu clinics at the stadium.
Central American migrants begin their morning trek with a free ride on a truck. Source: AAP
Other migrants were busy digging through large piles of donated clothing looking for coats, gloves or anything to fend off the cold.
Nearly 5,000 border troops
Two other large groups of Central Americans comprising between 3,000 and 4,000 migrants in all are currently making their way across the southern Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, the CNDH said.
Another 3,230 Central Americans who were traveling by caravan have requested asylum in Mexico, according to the interior ministry.
Trump has made immigration a central issue ahead of Tuesday's clutch mid-term vote, seen as a referendum on his presidency so far.
Calling the caravan a "national emergency," he had ordered 4,800 active-duty troops to the border as of Monday, and threatened to deploy as many as 15,000.
He has also asserted the caravan, which remains around 1000 kilometers from the border, includes members of the violent street gang MS-13 and "unknown Middle Easterners."
Central American migrants file into a sporting centre that has been turned into a shelter for them in Mexico City. Source: AAP
But the CNDH denied there was any evidence of criminals or people who could pose a security risk traveling in the caravan.
"About 75 per cent of them are women, children, the elderly and other vulnerable people. The rest are mostly young men with their families. There are very few traveling alone," said Gustavo Rodriguez Zarate, head of migrant support programs for the Catholic archdiocese of Puebla.
He said the migrants were traveling together to protect themselves from the many risks on the journey. Mexican gangs regularly extort, kidnap or kill Central Americans trying to reach the United States.
"They are being told not to break off into groups of less than 50, because that would put them at greater risk of being targeted by criminals," Zarate said.
The caravan on the road to the US. Source: AAP
Many of the migrants are fleeing poverty and insecurity in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala - Central America's so-called "Northern Triangle" - where powerful street gangs rule their turf with brutal violence.
They are still not exactly sure what route they will take, when or how.
"When the rest of the caravan gets here, we'll talk about what to do," said Teresa Estrada, a 23-year-old Guatemalan.
