The migrant caravan used by political campaigns - What's Your Point?

The caravan still must travel 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) to reach the nearest U.S. border crossing at McAllen, Texas. The trip could be twice as long if the 4,000 or so migrants head for the Tijuana-San Diego frontier, as another caravan did earlier this year. Only about 200 in that group made it to the border.

This week's panel: Jessica Colon - Republican strategist, Nyanza Moore - progressive commentator and Houston attorney,  Vlad Davidiuk – Communication Chief, Harris Co. Republican Party,  Tony Diaz- Chicano educator and activist,  Tomaro Bell – Super Neighborhood leader, Bill King - businessman, columnist and former Kemah Mayor, discuss the caravan and it's impact on U.S. politics.

APANATEPEC, Mexico (AP) - Thousands of Central American migrants took a break Sunday on their long journey through southern Mexico, but vowed to press ahead toward the U.S. border roughly 1,000 miles away, with Mexican government agencies seeming to waver between helping and hindering.

Some rested in the shade of tarps strung across the town plaza, or picked up trash. Others went to soak themselves in the nearby Novillero river.

The tensions of a long trek through searing heat with tenuous supplies of food and other goods spilled over Saturday night when a dispute over a food line evolved into the beating of a man falsely accused of child stealing.

Raul Medina Melendez, security chief for the tiny municipality of Tapanatepec in Oaxaca state said the town was distributing sandwiches and water to migrants camped in the central square Saturday night. When a man with a megaphone asked people to wait their turn, some men hurled insults at him. "Finally people got really angry and those below began to attack the guy," Medina said.

As the man ran, a false rumor spread that he had grabbed a child for protection and he was caught and beaten. Police rescued him and took him to a hospital for treatment, though his condition wasn't immediately clear.

On Sunday, several in the caravan took to microphones to denounce the attack.

"Is that the way we're going to always behave?" a woman from Honduras asked. "Anytime there's a rumor everyone is going to run to beat up someone?"

Others complained of a few smoking marijuana or complained that images of litter and uneaten food made them appear disrespectful.

On Saturday, an arm of the federal government for the first time seemed to be directly helping the migrants advance rather than trying to diminish the caravan. Grupo Beta, Mexico's migrant protection agency, gave rides to stragglers and passed out water.

"There are people fainting, there are wounded," said Martin Rojas, an agent of Grupo Beta who spoke to The Associated Press after dropping off a group of women and children in Tapanatepec after spotting them on a highway trudging through temperatures approaching 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).

Other agencies, however, have periodically tried to impede or erode the mass migration, whose progress has led U.S. President Donald Trump to threaten action against Mexico.

Earlier Saturday, more than 100 federal police dressed in riot gear blocked a highway before dawn to encourage the migrants to apply for refugee status in Mexico rather than continuing the journey north.

Police let the caravan proceed after representatives from Mexico's National Human Rights Commission convinced them that a rural stretch of highway without shade, toilets or water was no place for migrants to entertain an offer of asylum. Many members of the caravan have been travelling for more than two weeks, since a group first formed in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

The caravan still must travel 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) to reach the nearest U.S. border crossing at McAllen, Texas. The trip could be twice as long if the 4,000 or so migrants head for the Tijuana-San Diego frontier, as another caravan did earlier this year. Only about 200 in that group made it to the border.

Most of the migrants in the caravan appeared determined to reach the U.S., despite an offer of refuge in Mexico.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto launched a program on Friday dubbed "You are home," which promises shelter, medical attention, schooling and jobs to Central Americans who agree to stay in the southern Mexico states of Chiapas or Oaxaca, far from the U.S. border.

Mexico's Interior Ministry said that temporary identity numbers have been issued to 111 migrants, which would allow the migrants to stay and work in Mexico. The ministry said pregnant women, children and the elderly were among those who had joined the program and were now being attended at shelters.

TAPANATEPEC, Mexico (AP) - The Latest on the caravan of Central American migrants making their way through southern Mexico (all times local):

Saturday, October 28 8:45 a.m.

A local official in southern Mexico says a disturbance broke out at the encampment of Central American migrants trying to make their way through southern Mexico toward the U.S.

Municipal security chief Raul Medina Melendez in the town of Tapanatepec says that some in the crowd grew upset when a man with a megaphone urged them to line up and wait their turn for sandwiches and water the town was distributing late Saturday.

He says some began to attack him and he fled down a street. A false rumor spread that the man had grabbed a child for protection from the attackers.

The assailants caught and beat him, but police intervened and he was treated at a hospital.

As Sunday dawned, several in the crowd took to a microphone to chide their colleagues for the attack and urge better behavior.

The group of roughly 4,000 people has decided to rest for the day in the town, which itself has a population of only about 7,500.

ARRIAGA, Mexico (AP) - The Latest on the caravan of Central American migrants hoping to travel through Mexico to the U.S. (all times local):

Friday, October 27, 11:30 a.m.

Mexican federal officers have abandoned a blockade they formed on a bridge to prevent a caravan of thousands of Central American migrants from advancing.

The officers ended a standoff after representatives from Mexico's National Human Rights Commission told police that a rural stretch of highway without shade, toilets or water was no place to hold negotiations.

The migrants, keen to travel farther before the sun blazed at full midday strength, cheered as they made their way forward on foot. Police boarded buses and headed down the highway.

Officials originally said they would reopen the highway and only wanted an opportunity to explain Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's offer of shelter, medical attention, schooling and jobs to Central Americans who agree to stay in southern Mexico.

Migrants in the city of Arriaga rejected the plan Friday night, but said they may be willing to discuss it again once they reach Mexico City.

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Friday, October 27, 8:30 a.m.

More than a hundred Mexican federal officers carrying plastic shields have blocked a Central American caravan from advancing toward the United States, after several thousand of the migrants turned down a chance to apply for refugee status and obtain a Mexican offer of benefits.

A standoff unfolded Saturday as federal police officers blocked the highway, saying there was an operation underway to stop the caravan. On the northern side of the city of Arriaga, thousands of migrants remained on the highway waiting to advance.

At a meeting brokered by Mexico's National Human Rights Commission, police said they would reopen the highway and only wanted an opportunity for authorities to explain Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto's offer of shelter, medical attention, schooling and jobs to Central Americans. Migrants rejected the plan Friday night and said they want to at least arrive safely in Mexico City to discuss the topic further.

They agreed to relay information back to their respective sides and said they would reconvene.

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Thursday, October 26 11 p.m.

Several thousand Central American migrants have turned down a chance to apply for refugee status and obtain a Mexican offer of benefits, vowing to set out before dawn Saturday to continue their long trek toward the U.S. border.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced what he called the "You are at home" plan, offering shelter, medical attention, schooling and jobs to Central Americans in Chiapas and Oaxaca states if they applied, calling it a first step toward permanent refugee status. Authorities said more than 1,700 had already applied for refugee status.

But after one of the caravan's longest days of walking, the bulk of the migrants were boisterous Friday evening in their refusal to accept anything less than safe passage to the U.S. border

 

TAPANATEPEC, Mexico (AP) - The Mexican government seems torn between stopping several thousand Central American migrants from traveling toward the U.S. border in a caravan or burnishing its international human rights image.

On Saturday, more than a hundred federal police dressed in riot gear blocked a rural highway in southern Mexico shortly before dawn to encourage the migrants to apply for refugee status in Mexico rather than continuing the long, arduous journey north. U.S. President Donald Trump has urged Mexico to prevent the caravan from reaching the border.  

Police let the caravan proceed after representatives from Mexico's National Human Rights Commission convinced them that a rural stretch of highway without shade, toilets or water was no place for migrants to entertain an offer of asylum. Many members of the caravan have been travelling for more than two weeks, since a group first formed in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Not long after the caravan resumed the trek north Saturday, government officials were seen for the first time directly helping the migrants by giving rides in trucks and providing water along the scorching highway.

Martin Rojas, an agent from Mexico's migrant protection agency Grupo Beta, said he and his fellow agents planned to use agency pickup trucks to help stragglers catch up with the caravan.

"There are people fainting, there are wounded," said Rojas, who spoke to The Associated Press after dropping off a group of women and children in Tapanatepec, where the caravan planned to spend the night. Rojas transported the group to their destination after spotting them on a highway trudging through temperatures approaching 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).

Most of the migrants in the caravan appeared determined to reach the U.S., despite an offer of refuge in Mexico.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto launched a program on Friday dubbed "You are home," which promises shelter, medical attention, schooling and jobs to Central Americans who agree to stay in the southern Mexico states of Chiapas or Oaxaca, far from the U.S. border.

Mexico's Interior Ministry said that temporary identity numbers have been issued to 111 migrants under the program. The IDs, called CURPs, authorize the migrants to stay and work in Mexico, and the ministry said pregnant women, children and the elderly were among those who had joined the program and were now being attended at shelters.

After another brutally hot day on the road with her husband and 8-year-old son, Alejandra Rodriguez said the possibility of health care and a work permit in Mexico sounded enticing. But as she laid out a tarp and blanket to sleep in a covered parking area in Tapanatepec, the 26-year-old from Tegucigalpa, Honduras said she'd prefer to start a new life further north. She had heard that job opportunities were scarce in southern Mexico.

Orbelina Orellana said she and her husband were determined to continue north as well.

"Our destiny is to get to the border," said Orellana, who left three children behind in San Pedro Sula. She was also suspicious of the Mexican proposal, fearing that she would be deported if she applies for asylum in Mexico.

Mexican officials have greeted the caravan with a mixture of hospitality and hostility.

Several mayors have rolled out the welcome mat for migrants who reached their towns - arranging for food and camp sites. At other times, police have ejected migrants from passenger buses or prevented smaller groups from joining the caravan.

An official with the national immigration authority said Friday that 300 Hondurans and Guatemalans who crossed the Mexico border illegally had been detained. The group was walking in broad daylight, far from the main caravan.

The caravan still must travel 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) to reach the nearest U.S. border crossing at McAllen, Texas. The trip could be twice as long if the 4,000 or so migrants head for the Tijuana-San Diego frontier, as another caravan did earlier this year. Only about 200 in that group made it to the border.

This year's caravans have earned the ire of Trump. The Pentagon approved a request for additional troops at the southern border, likely to total several hundred, to help the U.S. Border Patrol as the president seeks to transform concerns about immigration and the caravan into electoral gains in the Nov. 6 midterms.

Stoking fears about the caravan and illegal immigration to rally his Republican base, Trump insinuated that gang members and "Middle Easterners" are mixed in with the group, though he later acknowledged there was no proof of that.