TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) — Mexican immigration authorities have broken up two small migrant caravans headed to the U.S. border, activists said Saturday.
Some migrants were bused to cities in southern Mexico, and others were offered transit papers.
The action comes a week after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatened to slap 25% tariffs on Mexican products unless the country does more to stem the flow of migrants to the U.S. border.
On Wednesday, Trump wrote that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum had agreed to stop unauthorized migration across the border into the United States. Sheinbaum wrote on her social media accounts the same day that “migrants and caravans are taken care of before they reach the border.”
Migrant rights activist Luis García Villagrán said the breaking-up of the two caravans appeared to be part of “an agreement between the president of Mexico and the president of the United States.”
The first of the caravans started out from the southern Mexico city of Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala, on Nov. 5, the day Trump was elected. At its height it had about 2,500 people. In almost four weeks of walking, it had gone about 270 miles (430 kilometers) to Tehuantepec in the state of Oaxaca.
In Tehuantepec, Mexican immigration officials offered the tired migrants free bus rides to other cities in southern or central Mexico.
“They took some of us to Acapulco, others to Morelia, and others from our group to Oaxaca city,” said Bárbara Rodríguez, an opposition supporter who left her native Venezuela after that country's contested presidential elections earlier this year.
Rodríguez said by telephone she later caught a bus on her own to Mexico City.
In a statement Saturday, the National Immigration Institute said the migrants voluntary accepted bus rides “to various areas where there is medical assistance and where their migratory status will be reviewed,” and said “upon accepting (the rides), they said they no longer wanted to face the risks along their way.”
The second caravan of about 1,500 migrants set out on Nov. 20 and made it about 140 miles (225 kilometers) to the town of Tonala, in Chiapas state. There, authorities offered a sort of transit visa that allows travel across Mexico for 20 days.
Sheinbaum has said she is confident that a tariff war with the United States can be averted. But her statement — the day after she held a phone call with Trump — did not make clear who had offered what.
Apart from the much larger first caravans in 2018 and 2019 — which were provided buses to ride part of the way north — no caravan has ever reached the U.S. border walking or hitchhiking in any cohesive way, though some individual members have made it.
For years, migrant caravans have often been blocked, harassed or prevented from hitching rides by Mexican police and immigration agents. They have also frequently been rounded up or returned to areas near the Guatemalan border.
Follow AP migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
FILE - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum gives a media briefing from the National Palace in Mexico City, Oct. 2, 2024, the morning after her inauguration. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)
LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — Lando Norris ignored team orders and handed his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri the sprint race in Qatar on Saturday, while Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen was stripped of the pole position.
His penalty elevated George Russell to first on the grid.
With McLaren eyeing its first F1 constructors' title in 26 years and Russell close behind for Mercedes, Norris was told by the team over the radio to “finish in this order,” ahead of Piastri.
He chose to gift his teammate the win anyway, easing off to the right on the exit of the final corner and then swooping back across in front of Russell, who finished third.
“The team told me not to do it, but I thought I could get away with it and we did,” Norris said. "Honestly, I don’t mind. I’m not here to win sprint races. I’m here to win races and the championship, but that’s not gone to plan."
Norris was paying Piastri back for doing the same in the sprint race in Brazil when Norris was still fighting Verstappen for the drivers’ title.
“I made my mind up in Brazil when it happened,” Norris said. “I needed to do something to give it back.”
Piastri said he hadn't expected Norris to take the risk.
“I was aware it could happen. I was a bit surprised that with George half a second (away) it did,” Piastri said. “It just shows off our teamwork and the lack of egos within the team.”
It continues a season where McLaren’s race tactics have often been a talking point, such as when Norris and Piastri swapped for the lead in Hungary after a lengthy and often awkward radio exchange with the team.
On Saturday, Norris started on pole position and kept the lead at the start as Piastri squeezed past Russell for second. As Russell repeatedly attacked Piastri, Norris dropped back instead of building a lead. That put Piastri within one second of Norris, allowing the Australian to use the DRS overtaking aid for extra speed.
Russell said he found the McLaren teamwork “pretty infuriating” while stuck behind Piastri and also objected to what he saw as late moves from Piastri to defend the position.
“Hopefully we can have a proper race (on Sunday) rather than this team orders stuff,” Russell said.
The F1 champion thought he'd secured his first pole position since the Austrian GP in June, but a lengthy stewards' inquiry gave him a one-place penalty for driving “unnecessarily slowly” in an incident with Russell, who moved up to first on the grid.
The Mercedes driver complained over the radio that it was “super dangerous” that he'd had to avoid Verstappen, who was ahead of him on the racing line as both drivers prepared for their final runs of qualifying.
The stewards agreed Verstappen was going too slowly as he tried to cool his tires but didn't apply the usual three-place penalty because neither driver was trying to set a fast time.
Verstappen hadn't been much of a factor in the sprint but he returned to form in qualifying, beating Russell by just .055 of a second on his last run.
“Crazy. I mean, honestly, I didn’t expect that,” Verstappen said. “We did change a bit on the car but I never thought it would make such a swing in performance.”
Norris was .252 off the pace and lines up third, with Piastri fourth, followed by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr.
McLaren increased its lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship to 30 points, and has both of its drivers ahead of the Ferraris on the grid.
Teams can earn a maximum 88 more points from the grand prix in Qatar and next week’s Abu Dhabi GP.
Red Bull dropped to 67 points behind McLaren in the standings as Verstappen — crowned the drivers' champion for the fourth time last week in Las Vegas — finished eighth and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was last after a pit stop to change his car's nose.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands at pit stop during the qualifying race at the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/ Darko Bandic, Pool)
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands at pit stop during the qualifying race at the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/ Darko Bandic, Pool)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia is flanked by his teammate Lando Norris of Britain after the sprint race at the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/ Altaf Qadri)
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain tries to overtake Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc of Monaco during sprint race at the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/ Darko Bandic)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia is about to cross the finish line followed by his teammate McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain and Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain during sprint race at the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Pool/ Altaf Qadri)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia is crosses the finish line followed by his teammate McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain and Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain during sprint race at the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Pool/ Altaf Qadri)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia crosses the finish line followed by his teammate McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain during sprint race at the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Pool/ Altaf Qadri)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia is flanked by his teammate Lando Norris of Britain after the sprint race at the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/ Altaf Qadri)
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain steers his car during sprint race at the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/ Darko Bandic)
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain leads his teammate McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia during sprint race at the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix, at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/ Darko Bandic)
