© Associated PressDefense Secretary Mattis said on Sunday that military equipment is already moving to the southern US border. Pictured above are mounted border patrol agents at a newly constructed section of border wall in California.
Coordinators of a caravan of several thousand Central American migrants moving through southern Mexico urged its members to rest Sunday. At first the migrants vowed to press on anyway but later changed their minds amid reports that a child had been abducted.
The migrants said they would stay and hold a meeting Sunday in Tapanatepec.
Late Saturday night, groups of migrants were running through the town's streets saying a migrant's child had been snatched. Something similar led to a panic at an earlier stop, but was not confirmed.
American military equipment has already begun arriving at the southern border ahead of an imminent troop deployment to block the migrant caravan, while in Mexico tensions have broken out with migrants attacking a local man who was distributing food.
Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Sunday military has already begun delivering jersey barriers to the southern border in conjunction with plans to deploy active duty troops. Mattis told reporters traveling with him in Prague that details of the deployment are still being worked out but should be available by Sunday night. They will include exactly how many forces are needed.
The additional troops will provide logistical and other support to the Border Patrol, and will bolster the efforts of the approximately 2,000 National Guard forces already there. The new forces are expected to provide logistical assistance such as air support and equipment, including vehicles and tents.
© The Daily MailThis map shows the progress of the migrants as of Sunday, when a new caravan also departed from San Salvador
The caravan, which has had as many as 7,200 migrants but has dwindled to roughly 4,000, took a day of rest in Tapanatepec on Sunday but vowed to press on to the U.S. border, now at least 900 miles away. Their arrival at the tiny municipality came as they crossed from into Oaxaca from Chiapas state, now about 190 miles from the bridge where the caravan crossed into Mexico from Guatemala.
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. The violence occurred while the town was distributing sandwiches and water to migrants camped in the central square Saturday night, said Raul Medina Melendez, security chief for Tapanatepec.
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.
© ReutersMexican police briefly tried to block the road and convince the migrants to apply for asylum in Mexico on Saturday
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.
© Associated PressMen participating in the migrant caravan raise their hands to vote for continuing on their journey the next day, as they stop for the night in Tapanatepec. Organizers pointed out that people were exhausted and suffering from walking the dozens of miles each day, and urged men to yield places in passing trucks to women and children
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.
Rojas dropped off a group of women and children in Tapanatepec after spotting them on a highway trudging through temperatures approaching 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Other agencies, however, have periodically tried to impede or erode the mass migration, whose progress has led Trump to threaten action against Mexico.
The caravan still must travel about 900 miles 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 majority rejected the offer, however.
'We're going to the United States. Because that's our dream,' said 28-year-old Honduran Daniel Leonel Esteves at the head of a 50-person wide column of migrants snaking down a highway into the hills.
Honduras said 4,500 of its citizens attempting to emigrate have returned to the country in recent days.
Meanwhile, additional caravans are moving north through Central America.
A second caravan arrived on Sunday at the Guatemalan side of the border with Mexico, where they faced off with a phalanx of Guatemalan police in a standoff at the border crossing. Photos of the group showed hundreds, if not thousands, of migrants.
© ReutersGuatemalan police fired tear gas on Sunday as a second caravan attempted to break through the border to Mexico
A second group of Hondurans was moving through Guatemala last week, and at one point numbered more than 1,000 people before beginning to fragment.
Trump and his fellow Republicans have sought to make immigration a major issue before the Nov. 6 elections, in which the party is battling to keep control of Congress.
The Salvadoran migrants organized using social networks like Facebook and WhatsApp over the last couple of weeks, inspired by the group of mostly Hondurans currently crossing Mexico.
© ReutersThird Caravan: People walk in a caravan of migrants departing from El Salvador en route to the U.S. in San Salvador on Sunday
Several migrants, gathered by the capital's 'Savior of the World' statue before leaving, said they were headed to the United States.
"We're asking the all-powerful to look after us, to guide us, to free us from all that is bad," shouted Hernan Quinteros, 49, a driver who urged his fellow travelers to tie up their shoes ahead of the long trip.
El Salvador's left-wing government said it had solidarity with the migrants and respected their right to mobilize, but urged them not to risk their lives on the way.
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