CBS News 11/9/2018
Thousands of Central American migrants decided to depart Mexico City early Friday and head toward the northern city of Tijuana, opting for the longer but likely safer route to the U.S. border, caravan organizers said.
The decision was made late Thursday in a Mexico City stadium where roughly 5,000 migrants have spent the past few days resting, receiving medical attention and debating to how to proceed with their arduous trek.
They will proceed toward the U.S. on the heels of President Trump's latest move to tighten the nation's asylum rules, as he had declared he would do last week ahead of Tuesday's midterms. The administration announced on Thursday that it was moving forward with a regulation withholding asylum protection from immigrants who cross the border illegally first.
The interim final rule posted by the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security would bar immigrants who cross the "southern border unlawfully" from "eligibility for asylum." Immigrants would have to apply for asylum status at designated points of entry, and those already in the country illegally would not be able to apply.
The announcement that the caravan would push northward on Friday, toward the official crossing at Tijuana, came shortly after caravan representatives met with officials from the local United Nations office and demanded buses to take them to the border.
Caravan coordinator Milton Benitez told the migrants that they were still waiting for a response. But he later said to The Associated Press the officials had offered them buses for women and children but organizers demanded that they be for everyone. U.N. representatives could not be immediately reached to confirm this.
The migrants hoped that buses would arrive for them Friday morning but decided to leave Mexico City even if they didn't.
"God, please let the buses arrive, but if not we will walk," said 18-year-old single mother Delia Murillo who left her girl in Honduras because she feared for her safety on the trek.
More:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/migrant-caravan-mexico-toward-tijuana-us-border-donald-trump-tightens-asylum/
