Thousands of Honduran migrants reached the U.S. stretched out on rain-soaked sidewalks, benches and public plazas in the southern Mexico city of Tapachula, worn down by another day's march under a blazing sun.  The travelers — made up of 1,500 to 5,000 people mostly from Honduras — were eventually stopped on the river crossing. Some members of the caravan became so desperate they jumped from the bridge, trying to grab onto one of the makeshift rafts other migrants were using to cross the river into Mexico.

Migrants have said they are fleeing widespread violence, poverty and corruption in Honduras. The caravan is unlike previous mass migrations for its unprecedented large numbers and because it largely began spontaneously through word of mouth.

Migrants received help from sympathetic Mexicans who offered food, water and clothing. Hundreds of locals stopped their driving vehicles  to let them clamber aboard.

The Civil defense officials for Mexico's southern state of Chiapas said they had offered to take the migrants by bus to a shelter but the migrants refused, fearing that once they boarded the buses they would be deported.  Ulises Garcia, a Red Cross official, said some migrants with injuries from their hard trek refused to be taken to clinics or hospitals, because they didn't want to leave the caravan.

Mexican government officials were trying balance the need to enforce its immigration laws, treat the migrants in a humanitarian way and not further antagonize an unhappy White House.

Mexico has said only those with the proper papers would be allowed entry into the country and dispatched two planeloads of Federal Police officers to the area –which is often so neglected that migrants simply float across the river in rafts into Mexico without having to clear customs.

The network, which had reporters traveling with the caravan, showed 

Mexican police lined up along the fence holding it up against the waves of migrants trying to push past.

Caravan participants screamed that they were being fired upon with tear gas, but it was unclear from the video whether that was happening. Mexican officials vowed not to harm or mistreat any of the migrants, but tensions were high.

The caravan organizers of using women and children as “shields” to attempt to cross Mexico’s border. 

“This is an organized effort to come through and violate the sovereignty of Mexico, and so we’re prepared to do all that we can to support the decisions that Mexico makes about how they’re going to address this very serious and important issue to their country  - source said

Mexican official said the staff of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees would help identify “legitimate” asylum claims from the migrants who are part  

of the caravan. The AP reported that police and immigration agents allowed small  llowed small groups of 10, 20, 30 people through the gates to apply for refugee status. Once they filed a claim, they were permitted to go to shelter to spend the night.

Mexico has received a crush of asylum claims in recent years as many Central Americans consider Mexico a destination country or prefer to not risk crossing an increasingly fortified U.S. border. The country accepted 14,596 claims in 2017, more than six times the number of applications it received in 2014. In February, the National Human Rights Commission warned of the “pending collapse of the refugee protection system in Mexico” as half of all claims were still unprocessed.

 “We want to make sure that those claims are legitimate,” the government official said, noting a handful of migrants had already applied for asylum in Mexico.

The Mexican government warned caravan participants “of grave risks” by illegally entering Mexico, including, “the presence of human trafficking networks.” Migrants transiting Mexico are often preyed upon by police and criminal gangs and suffer indignities such as kidnap, rape and extortion.

Dissuading migrants from making northbound trips is 

difficult, however, as the risks often outweigh remaining in the country.

The group's advance has drawn strong criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump,  who lashed out at the Democratic Party over what he apparently sees as a winning issue for Republicans a little over two weeks ahead of midterm elections. “Change the immigration laws NOW!" Trump  said,  the migrants would not be allowed into the United States. His country doesn’t want them.   Trump rails against migrants.

But Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Loez Orbrador who takes office Dec. 1^st suggested that the United States, Canada and Mexico work out a joint plan for funding development in the poor areas of Central America and southern Mexico. He and U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by telephone about boosting economic development in Mexico and Central America in order to stem illegal migration.

The United States and Canada agreed on a new trilateral trade deal, which Lopez Obrador hailed as a “good accord” that would create economic certainty and encourage investment. Situation is severe. Everybody is waiting to solve the crisis.  But how?

Compiled by Ujjual