Migrants set out anew on quest to reach distant US border
1,079 views · Published 29 October 2018 · 1:55 · Indexed 6 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(24 Oct 2018) Thousands of Central American migrants renewed their hoped-for march to the United States on Wednesday, setting out before dawn with plans to travel another 45 miles (75 kilometers) of the more than 1,000 miles that still lie before them. The five days of walking in the southernmost reaches of Mexico _ after seven days in Honduras and Guatemala _ were beginning to show: Mexican authorities said Wednesday that about 500 migrants had accepted an offer to be bused back to their countries. Many said they were sick or exhausted, especially the children who toddled or were carried along on the march. Still, the size of the caravan — estimated by the United Nations at more than 7,000 strong — seemed basically undiminished as the throng set out in darkness cut by occasional flashlights or the spotlights of municipal police who were escorting them. Maria del Carmen Mejia of Copan, Honduras, was already sweating profusely before dawn. She carried three-year-old Britany Sofia Alvarado whilst clutching the hand of her other daughter Miralia Alejandra Alvarado, 7, who was sweaty and fevered. The mother said Miralia is sick and was hoping someone would give them a lift. She vowed to keep going. Rosa Duvon of Cofradia Cortes in Honduras was pushing two baby boys, both named Daniel - a son and a nephew - in a rickety donated baby carriage over a potholes road at 5 a.m. While the group has been discouraged by Mexico's government - and prompted threats of aid cutoffs for their homelands from US President Donald Trump - they have received an outpouring of help from locals as they pass by. Neighbors have supplied the marchers, many of them largely penniless, with food and passersby have stopped to give them rides in cars, pickups, even dump trucks. Trump has blamed Democrats for what he said were weak immigration laws and claimed - with no evidence - that MS-13 gang members and unknown "Middle Easterners" were hiding among the migrants. Trump later acknowledged there was "no proof" of the claim Middle Easterners were in the crowd. But he tweeted Wednesday that the U.S. "will never accept people coming into our Country illegally!" 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/f14f78d86cfb14d95cb79df05cbb32ef
