Mexican police, national guard stop caravan of 2,000 migrants heading for US

Mexican authorities intercepted a migrant caravan of approximately 2,000 people that was attempting to travel north through Mexico to the United States border over the weekend, according to The Associated Press.

The caravan, which included migrants from Central America, Africa, and the Caribbean, began moving north from the southern Mexico city of Tapachula on Saturday morning, but was quickly cut off by Mexican police officers and the Mexican National Guard.

It has become difficult for migrants to sneak north out of Tapachula undetected by authorities, so the large group of migrants coordinated to depart together hoping that would increase their safety and chances for success.

Authorities detained many of the migrants and put them in vans, although officials would not say where they were being transported, while others scattered and fled.

"Mexico's enhanced border security efforts along their southern border continue to have a dramatic impact on this regional crisis," U.S. Customs and Border Protection acting commissioner Mark Morgan tweeted Sunday. "I just returned from Mexico where we had collaborative discussions on stemming the flow of illegal migration throughout the region."

Since Mexico and the United States reached an agreement that Mexico would do more to stifle migration through the country to the United States, Tapachula has become a stalling point for migrants hoping to travel north through Mexico.

AP reported that thousands of migrants have remained in Tapachula for months waiting for residency or transit papers to allow them to travel north to the U.S.

Although most of them are trying to seek asylum in the U.S., Mexican officials have given them the option to either return to their countries by leaving through the southern Mexican border, or wait in Tapachula. The wait could be long, or indefinite, however, as Mexico as "practically stopped" issuing transit visas to migrants.

Some migrants, particularly those from further-off countries in Africa, find themselves stuck in southern Mexico because it is not as easy for them to be repatriated to their homelands as it would be if they were from countries like Cuba or Honduras.

(H/T: Daily Caller)