MEXICO CITY—According to the WSJ, thousands of Central American migrants who have been making their way north are gathering in Mexico City before deciding whether to head to the U.S. border as one very large caravan or in smaller groups, migrants and activists said.
An estimated 6,000 Central American migrants had gathered by Tuesday afternoon at a sports stadium near Mexico City’s airport that federal and local authorities are using as a shelter. Migrants got medical treatment, food and legal advice after a grueling 25-day, 1,000-mile trek through parts of three countries.
Some activists said the plan was to stay in Mexico City to wait for thousands more migrants in at least two other caravans in southern Mexico to arrive before deciding whether to set out north as a group that could top 10,000 people. But the activists cautioned that plans could change at any time.
Such a move could add to the political battle over migration in the U.S. In the days leading up to Tuesday’s midterm elections, President Trump made the caravans a top campaign issue, saying they are a danger to the U.S. Mr. Trump has vowed none will be allowed into the U.S. to seek asylum and ordered as many as 15,000 soldiers be sent to the U.S.-Mexican border.
The caravans, which include hundreds of migrants marching with children and babies, form part of a new dynamic in which migrants band together as they cross some of the world’s most murderous areas and avoid hiring expensive human smugglers, known as coyotes. But the visibility that gives the migrants protection could make it harder for them to cross, activists and immigration experts say.
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