Migrants bed down against border fence in hope of reaching Mexico
453 views · Published 25 October 2018 · 2:04 · Indexed 9 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(20 Oct 2018) A standoff between thousands of Central American migrants trying to reach the United States and Mexican police stretched through the night with some migrants hanging from the closed border gate wailing "there are children here" while others slept on the crowded bridge linking Guatemala to Mexico. Members of the caravan of more than 3,000 migrants had earlier burst through a Guatemalan border fence and rushed onto the bridge over the Suchiate River, defying Mexican authorities' entreaties for an orderly crossing and U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of retaliation. But they were met on Friday by a wall of police with riot shields on the Mexican side of the bridge. About 50 managed to push their way through before officers unleashed pepper spray and the rest retreated, joining the sea of humanity on the bridge. Police and immigration agents began letting small groups of 10, 20 or 30 people through the gates if they wanted to apply for refugee status. Once they file a claim, they can go to a shelter to spend the night. As night fell on the bridge, the migrants' frustration turned to despair as women clutching small children took up the rows in front of the gate pleading with the Mexican federal police. Some migrants yelled "We are hungry!" Others wailed that they had children while others set up tarps to prepare for the night sleeping on the increasingly dirty and befouled bridge. The massive caravan began last Saturday in San Pedro Sula and arrived in Guatemala on Monday. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/9ae985162a70b30f272a426835481104
