Thousands of Central American migrants were back on the move Saturday, as dedicated Mexico City metro trains whisked members of a caravan headed to the US border to the last stop on a line in the northern part of the capital.
The first subway train pulled out before 5 am local time, with police, metro workers and human rights officials guiding the bulk of migrants through the city's empty stations. At the Line 2 terminus, they then got out and began making their way to a main highway to resume walking and hitchhiking through Mexico.
Jose Enrique Ramirez, 40, snagged seats for himself and his 10-year-old son on the first departing train.
"I'm happy," he said, about being on the road once again. He said another son had been killed in Honduras and he was receiving threats when he heard about the caravan.
He now joins roughly 4,000 migrants who plan to proceed first to the city of Queretaro a state capital 124 miles (200 kilometers) to the northwest before possibly going to Guadalajara, Culiacan, Hermosillo and eventually Tijuana on the US border.
Whereas in Mexico's tropical south they carried tiny knapsacks with bare essentials, however, their belongings had swelled notably during their time in Mexico City.
Many are now hauling bundles of blankets, sleeping bags and heavy clothing to protect against colder temperatures in the north. Some left the capital with bottles of water and clear plastic bags of bananas and oranges for the long trek ahead.
Juan Jose Ramirez, a 35-year-old farm worker, said he left two kids behind in Santa Rosa, Honduras, and his goal was to find work in the US Walking through a subway station he said it was important to be orderly because eyes were on them in Washington.
He also had a simple plan: He would get to the border and "wait for an answer from Trump," he said.
The caravan became a campaign issue in US midterms election and US President Donald Trump has ordered the deployment of over 5,000 military troops to the border to fend off the migrants. Trump has also threatened to make attaining asylum even more difficult and to detain applicants in tent cities.
But the longest and most dangerous leg of the journey lay ahead.
On Thursday, caravan representatives met with officials from the local United Nations office and demanded buses to take them to the border, saying the trek would be too hard and dangerous for walking and hitchhiking.
A day later, the UN denied the offer, saying its agencies were "unable to provide the transportation demanded by some members of the caravan."
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