Caravan of migrants grows ahead of push into Mexico

TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — Thousands of Central American migrants, many with their feet bandaged and blistered, gathered today in this southern Mexican town preparing to embark on the arduous 2,000-mile walk to the U.S. border even as President Donald Trump rained more threats on their governments.

Just over two weeks before the U.S. midterm elections, in which Trump has made illegal immigration a rallying call for his Republican base, Trump again blasted Democrats for what he called "pathetic" immigration laws.

"Every time you see a Caravan, or people illegally coming, or attempting to come, into our Country illegally, think of and blame the Democrats for not giving us the votes to change our pathetic Immigration Laws!" he tweeted.

In another tweet, he blamed Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador for not stopping people from leaving their countries. "We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them," he wrote.

A team of AP journalists traveling with the caravan for more than a week has spoken with Hondurans, Guatemalans and Salvadorans, but has not met any Middle Easterners, who Trump suggested were "mixed in" with the Central American migrants.

It was clear though that more migrants were continuing to join the caravan.

Denis Omar Contreras, a Honduran-born caravan leader with the organization Pueblo Sin Fronteras – People Without Borders – said Trump should stop accusing the caravan of harboring terrorists.

"There isn't a single terrorist here," he said. "We are all people from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. And as far as I know there are no terrorists in these four countries, at least beyond the corrupt governments."