MEXICO CITY _ Many members of the caravan of Central American migrants that became an issue in the U.S. midterm elections began leaving Mexico City early Friday, headed for their ultimate destination _ the U.S.-Mexico border _ still hundreds of miles away.
Some caravan participants said they intended to travel to Tijuana, more than 1,700 miles to the northwest, but it was not clear if all of the 5,000-plus caravan members planned to go with them to the city across the border from San Diego.
Leaving Mexico City, the migrants were following a route that could take them to a number of destinations along the U.S.-Mexico border, many of them much closer than Tijuana.
Their next planned stop after the Mexican capital is Queretero, some 135 miles from Mexico City, on the main highway north.
The caravan fragmented considerably on Friday as some groups sought to leave the sprawling Mexican capital on foot, some in public buses and others on subway trains headed for the city's northern outskirts. Still others stayed behind in Mexico City, delaying their departure until later. It was unclear how many had remained behind.
Thousands of migrants, mostly from Honduras, spent days at a sports complex next Mexico City's airport, where city officials and various aid groups had been providing food, medical treatment, legal advice and other services, including entertainment from clowns. The stop was a chance for many to rest and recuperate after weeks on the road from Central America.
By Thursday, officials said some 5,500 migrants were encamped at the sports center, sleeping in tents, in the grand-stands and on fields. Most are young men, but many women and children are in the group.
In recent days many participants had urged fellow caravan travelers to push on to the border. Late Thursday, caravan members voted in an assembly to leave en masse at 5 a.m. Friday.
On Friday morning, however, many migrants lingered at the sports facility, as city officials served breakfast and a mariachi band serenaded the travelers. Others, though, decided to leave and continue their northbound voyage.
Many had been hoping that free bus services would be provided to take them north, but none appeared at the stadium.
On Thursday, some caravan members mounted a protest demanding that the United Nations provide more than 150 buses to take the migrants to Tijuana.
President Donald Trump has deployed thousands of troops along the U.S.-Mexico border and vowed that the migrants would not be allowed into the United States. The president used the caravan as a campaign issue in the final days leading up to Tuesday's midterm elections.
Also on Thursday, the Trump administration said it was planning to tighten procedures for foreigners seeking political asylum in the United States.
Many if not most of the members of the caravan are expected to request political asylum on the grounds they fear returning to their homelands because of pervasive violence. The Central American nations of Honduras and El Salvador have long had some of the world's highest homicide rates.
In recent days, lawyers and other experts have been providing guidance on U.S. asylum laws to caravan members at the stadium in Mexico City.
The caravan departed from the city of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on Oct. 13, and advanced into Guatemala, gathering new members along the way. Thousands of caravan members pushed into Mexico the following weekend, and began heading north, walking and riding in cars, taxis, trucks and buses before trickling into Mexico City last weekend.
While some caravan members have returned home, and others applied for refugee status in Mexico, most have stuck with the group as it headed north.
Two other caravans, with some 3,000 people, are following the path of the initial caravan through southern Mexico and are expected to reach Mexico City in the coming days.
