Migrant caravan expands to 5,000

The group of migrants moving through Mexico and toward the United States has grown to include about 5,000 people, The Associated Press reported Sunday. 

The migrants, who are fleeing violence in their home countries in Central America, were destined Sunday for Tapachula, a city in the Mexican state of Chiapas, the AP reported.

{mosads}There were about 2,000 migrants on the Mexican side of the Mexico-Guatemala border as of Saturday night, and it’s not yet clear where the additional travelers came from, according to the AP. 

I’m only just realizing the massive scale of this caravan as they march north into Mexico. It’s several thousand people. Just look. pic.twitter.com/aRuoLNYTZg

— Kate Linthicum (@katelinthicum) October 21, 2018

The migrants reached the Guatemala-Mexico border over the weekend, and some applied for refugee status in Mexico. Many more continued the trek toward the U.S., according to media reports.

President Trump, who has warned the migrants not to enter the U.S., tweeted Sunday that “full efforts are being made to stop the onslaught of illegal aliens from crossing our Souther Border.”

“People have to apply for asylum in Mexico first, and if they fail to do that, the U.S. will turn them away. The courts are asking the U.S. to do things that are not doable!” he added.

Full efforts are being made to stop the onslaught of illegal aliens from crossing our Souther Border. People have to apply for asylum in Mexico first, and if they fail to do that, the U.S. will turn them away. The courts are asking the U.S. to do things that are not doable!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 21, 2018

Trump also wrote in a separate tweet that the “Caravans are a disgrace to the Democrat Party.”

“The Caravans are a disgrace to the Democrat Party. Change the immigration laws NOW!” he wrote.

Meanwhile, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Sunday that the department would “closely monitor the caravan crisis.”