A caravan of 400-strong immigrants is making its way through Mexico to the United States, even as Mexican National Guard troops continue to try to frustrate border immigrants.
The massive group, which left the southern city of Tapachula on Saturday, began its journey north after Mexican forces broke up at least two more caravans last week.
The new caravan is made up largely of Central Americans and Haitians who told authorities fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries and seeking refuge in the United States.
“I have handed in paperwork but nothing is ever corrected,” a 31-year-old Honduran migrant, Sharon, told Reuters. “Only appointments and more appointments”.
She added, “I’m scared, but if I don’t get out of here I won’t get a job.”
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has sent troops to stop the marches since the beginning of the year, with a growing number of immigrants heading north to flee to the U.S.
On Thursday, a group of at least 50 migrants was detained in Escuintla by military forces, although as many as 300 escaped capture, the Mexican News Daily reported.
Last week, Mexican troops stopped a larger caravan of up to 600 leaving Tapachula, with soldiers facing criticism after images of the incident show army and immigration authorities using a excessive force to do so.
A Mexican correspondent said she was also mistreated by authorities.
“He gave me an elbow,” Maria de Jesus Peters, a correspondent for the Spanish-language newspaper El Universal, El Universal, said Saturday in the Mexican incident.
“I was moving up and down to try to take pictures and they started saying I was attacking them,” Peters said. “He was taking a picture of me when he slapped me.”
Lopez Obrador has been pressured by the United States to stop migrant marches, while America continues to face a growing border crisis.
With publishing cables