MEXICO · MIGRATION
Updated 1 time · Latest: 14 October 2026
Key Facts
- •The country Mexico shares a border of about 3,100 km (1,950 miles) with the United States. It is the main land route north for migrants from Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
- •What happened On the night of Sunday 27 September, a caravan of more than 600 people set off on foot from Tapachula, the main city on the Guatemalan border, the news agency EFE reported.
- •Where it is now On Monday 12 October Mexico’s immigration agency broke up the caravan at Arriaga, Chiapas, on the Oaxaca border, La Jornada reported. Most members accepted a transit document on condition that they be moved to the state capital.
- •How big Counts range from about 200 to about 600 people. EFE counted more than 600 at the start; UnoTV put it at 350 to 400 on the day it left Tapachula.
- •The arrest Chiapas state police detained a Honduran man, Jason “N”, described as an organiser, on the basis of an international Red Notice from Honduras. He was handed to immigration officials for return to Honduras.
- •The record About 20 caravans have tried to leave Mexico’s southern border since October 2024, according to La Jornada. None succeeded; all were broken up between Chiapas and Oaxaca.
- •What it means for you This is not a border surge: 600 people is about two days of current US Border Patrol arrests. Drivers on the Chiapas coast road may meet slow traffic.
A migrant caravan that left Tapachula, in Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas, on Sunday 27 September was broken up on Monday 12 October at Arriaga, on the Oaxaca border. Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM) offered most members a transit document if they accepted transfer to Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the state capital, according to reports from Chiapas.
Most of its members say they want to reach the United States. The nearest US crossing is well over 1,500 km away by road, the border is closed to almost all new arrivals, and Mexico has broken up every similar group since late 2024.
Who Is Walking
The group calls itself Fe y Esperanza con Dios, Faith and Hope with God. It left San Pedro Sula, Honduras’s second city, on Sunday 20 September, and crossed Guatemala.
It entered Mexico on Thursday 24 September at Suchiate. Police and officers of the National Migration Institute (INM), Mexico’s federal immigration agency, escorted it, the local newspaper El Orbe reported.
The group then walked about 40 km in 12 hours to Tapachula, according to EFE. It camped in the city’s Bicentenario park for about two and a half days.
It arrived with about 300 people, mostly Hondurans, and roughly doubled in size. Migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador and Haiti who were stranded in Tapachula, many waiting months for papers, joined it.
“I want to reach the United States,” José Zelaya, a Honduran travelling with seven relatives, told EFE. He said the group had no leaders “beyond hunger, need”.
An Ecuadorian, Vinicio Obonaga, told EFE he joined because his papers were delayed and there was no work. Leaving in a large group, he said, was the only way out of the city. He hopes to settle in Monterrey, in northern Mexico, rather than go on to the US.
Most of those interviewed by EFE cited economic hardship at home. One Honduran, Óscar Vanegas, said he had been deported seven months earlier and was trying again.
Honduras depends heavily on money sent home by migrants, as record remittances amid rising US deportations show.
They left Tapachula carrying their belongings in black plastic bags against the rain. The downpours came from Storm Rachel over Mexico’s Pacific coast, EFE said.
The Route Through Chiapas
From Tapachula the caravan followed the Pacific coastal highway, with overnight stops in Huehuetán, Huixtla and Escuintla. On Friday 2 October it reached Mapastepec, having walked about 145 km since entering Mexico, La Jornada reported.
There the group, which the paper put at about 350 people, camped under the roof of a sports ground and rested. It set off again on the afternoon of Saturday 3 October for Pijijiapan, the next stop. Tonalá and Arriaga follow before the Oaxaca state line.
Its size is disputed. EFE counted more than 600 when it left Tapachula; El Universal and La Jornada put it at about 350 soon after. SDP Noticias, a national news site, said about 200 people were resting in Mapastepec by the weekend.
How It Ended at Arriaga
Three weeks after leaving Honduras, the group reached Arriaga, the last town in Chiapas before the Oaxaca line. INM agents there offered the migrants a transit document on condition that they be taken to Tuxtla Gutiérrez.
Most accepted, and five buses took away the first group of more than 100 people on Monday 12 October, according to local reports. A small group refused and left to continue on its own.
The Arrest in Mapastepec
While the caravan rested in Mapastepec, officers of the Chiapas state police (Guardia Estatal Preventiva) detained a Honduran man and drove him away in a patrol car. Several migrants tried to stop them, leading to a heated argument, SDP Noticias reported.
The Chiapas Security Ministry, which runs the state police, said in a statement that the man, identified only as Jason “N”, was one of the caravan’s organisers. It said he was the subject of a Red Notice, an Interpol alert asking police worldwide to locate a wanted person, issued at the request of Honduras. It did not say what crime he is accused of.
The ministry said he was placed in the hands of immigration officials for handover to the authorities of Honduras. Fellow migrants told La Jornada that he did not lead the group, demanded his release and asked human rights bodies to intervene.
Why Tapachula Is a Bottleneck
Tapachula is the first large Mexican city north of the Guatemalan border. Many migrants wait there for asylum or transit papers, and EFE reported delays and a lack of work.
Walking out together offers safety in numbers. It also costs nothing, unlike paying a smuggler to move north.
What Happened to Earlier Caravans
About 20 caravans have tried to leave Mexico’s southern border since October 2024, when President Claudia Sheinbaum took office, La Jornada reported. None succeeded: all were broken up between Chiapas and Oaxaca.
The last big group, called Dreams Without Borders, left Tapachula on Thursday 20 August with about 600 people. It broke up in Arriaga, near the Oaxaca state line, on Monday 7 September.
By then it had walked a little over 270 km, and only about half its members remained. The rest had dropped out, handed themselves in or gone on alone, the news site Meganoticias reported.
Those left accepted an INM offer of transport to Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the Chiapas state capital, to continue their paperwork. Migrants said they were promised a 30-day transit document, which officials have not confirmed.
The US Border Today
US Border Patrol arrested 8,870 people along the border with Mexico in August, according to the Department of Homeland Security. That is 97 percent below the peak of December 2023.
It works out to fewer than 300 people a day along the entire border. The department says it has released none of those arrested into the United States for 16 months.
On that scale, the Faith and Hope caravan equals about two days of arrests. EFE said its members were setting out amid mass deportations and a tougher US migration policy.
What It Means for You
For US readers, the caravan does not signal a new wave toward the border, nor any change in US or Mexican policy. Mexico’s record over the past two years is to stop such groups in its south, and the arrest shows the authorities are watching this one closely.
For travellers, the coastal highway between Tapachula and Arriaga should return to normal now that the group has dispersed, though police checkpoints on federal highway 200 are likely to remain.
What Is Not Known
The terms and length of the transit document, and whether it allows travel beyond Chiapas, were not disclosed in the reports we found. We found no public statement from the INM or Mexico’s federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) on the caravan or the arrest.
The crime behind the Red Notice against Jason “N”, and whether he has already been returned to Honduras, have not been disclosed. The caravan’s exact size is also unclear.
Related: US border arrests in August 2026; Guatemala deportations; Mexico and the US ambassador.
More: Mexico news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a migrant caravan?
It is a large group of migrants who walk together, usually from Central America through Mexico, for safety and to avoid paying smugglers. The groups are loosely organised and often shrink along the way.
How big was the caravan and where did it end?
EFE put it at more than 600 people when it left Tapachula on Sunday 27 September; later counts range from about 200 to about 350. It was broken up at Arriaga, Chiapas, on the Oaxaca border, on Monday 12 October.
Will the caravan reach the US border?
No. The INM broke the caravan up at Arriaga on Monday 12 October by offering most members a transit document and transfer to Tuxtla Gutiérrez. About 20 caravans have tried since October 2024 and all were broken up in Chiapas or Oaxaca; the last one dissolved in Arriaga after its members accepted an offer from Mexico’s immigration agency.
Sources: EFE via ABC Color, caravan of more than 600 leaves Tapachula, 27 September 2026, EFE via Info7, migrants leave Tapachula in caravan, 28 September 2026, Infobae with EFE, about 300 migrants enter Mexico, 25 September 2026, El Orbe, caravan crosses at Suchiate, 24 September 2026, El Universal, about 350 migrants resume march in Chiapas, 28 September 2026, La Jornada, caravan reaches Mapastepec after 145 km, 2 October 2026, La Jornada, alleged caravan leader detained in Chiapas (with Chiapas Security Ministry statement), 3 October 2026, SDP Noticias, arrest in Mapastepec, 4 October 2026, Meganoticias, Dreams Without Borders caravan dissolves in Arriaga, 9 September 2026, US Department of Homeland Security, August enforcement figures (press release), 16 September 2026., La Jornada, caravan dissolved at the Chiapas-Oaxaca border, 12 October 2026, Diario de Chiapas, caravan dissolved, October 2026, El Congresista, caravan dissolved in Arriaga, October 2026, Meganoticias, caravan advances through Chiapas, October 2026. Retrieved 28 September to 14 October 2026.
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