On January 18, Central American migrants entered Mexico from Guatemala in small groups after brief clashes earlier in the day, when dozens of people tried to force their way across the border and were pushed back by Mexican security forces .
Hundreds of people who entered Guatemala from Honduras in recent days have been arriving at the Mexican border , with the bulk of them still advancing in a larger caravan , testing the Mexican government after it agreed to contain migrant flows.
Is Mexico turning its back on migrants?
Around 1,500 immigrants walked along the Rodolfo Robles international bridge and asked Mexican authorities to allow them to enter the country. After being denied access to Mexico, a group of youths tried to force their way into Mexico but were contained by Mexican security forces.
After the incident, Mexican authorities closed the gate, however, the immigrants tried to knock it down. Security forces sprayed the migrants with tear gas .
Mexican security officials closed the border at the crossing between Tecun Uman, Guatemala and Ciudad Hidalgo , Mexico , after the morning scuffles. But once order was restored, Mexico began letting in groups of around 20 at a time.
Although Mexico has offered migrants work in the south, those who do not accept it or seek asylum will not be issued safe-conduct passes to the United States, the Interior Ministry announced.
Guatemalan authorities say some 4,000 people have entered the country since Wednesday, the biggest surge since Guatemala , Honduras , and El Salvador signed accords with the United States that increase pressure on them to deal with migrants .
Many of the migrants are seeking to escape poverty , violence or other social problems in Central America . And although Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has launched a series of initiatives to create jobs in the poorer south, few have expressed an interest in staying in Mexico and most are eager to take their chances in the United States.
That same day, video footage from the morning showed a group of migrants jostling and clashing with members of Mexico’s National Guard on the bridge separating Guatemala from Mexico.
Women carrying small children could be seen at the front of the group on the bridge. Guatemala’s government later issued a statement saying some people were using children to try to secure entry and offered to repatriate migrants who failed.
After being kept out, most migrants withdrew to Tecun Uman to await the arrival of a larger caravan .
About 400 of the migrants who entered Guatemala this week have been sent home, its government said.
On January 19, once again, hundreds of Central Americans gathered on the Guatemala-Mexico border , aiming to cross en masse early on January 20.
Hours later, hundreds of Central Americans crossed the river into Mexico, some clashing with waiting for security forces.
Scattered groups threw rocks at members of Mexico’s National Guard who were on the banks of the river attempting to halt any illegal crossings , as hundreds of others ran past into Mexico, video footage of the scene showed.
The mostly Honduran migrants appeared to grow impatient on the bridge over the Suchiate River that connects the two countries after some were denied permission to cross by Mexican migration officers.
It was also reported that at least 2,000 migrants had been camped in the Guatemalan border town of Tecun Uman , opposite Ciudad Hidalgo on the Mexican side.
On January 19, Mexican authorities said they had received nearly 1,100 migrants in the states of Chiapas and Tabasco and set out various options to them in accordance with their migration status .
Central American immigrant
warned that they will go into a hunger strike if Mexican authorities don’t allow them to enter the country, so they can seek asylum in the U.S. Hours later, they denied this claim.
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