Hundreds of Central American immigrants spent a night on a bridge separating Guatemala and Mexico and crowds gathered at a metal gate on the border as efforts mounted to stop thousands of people moving north as a result of American pressure.
US President Donald Trump has said the crackdown must be stopped before he arrives in the United States. Honduras and Guatemala said late on Friday that they were moving to repatriate Honduran immigrants.
Earlier on Friday, hundreds of migrants from the front of the crowd poured into border posts and the bridge, but dozens of Mexican police confronted them and many complained they had been hit by tear gas.
With exhaustion and frustration after walking for days, many spent the night outdoors, some with towels and garbage bags on the bridge, and others slept on backpacks.
The Mexican government, which says it will examine individual asylum applications, has vowed to deal with the matter after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with senior Mexico officials in Mexico City. Pompeo urged Mexico to ensure that the crowds do not reach the United States.
The Honduran and Guatemalan governments said Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was scheduled to meet his Guatemalan counterpart, Jimi Morales, in Guatemala on Saturday to implement a strategy to repatriate Honduran migrants.
Most of the migrants I spoke to told Reuters they had no idea how to get the documents needed to enter Mexico, but many were determined to try.
Most of those arrested while trying to enter the United States illegally came from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, among the poorest and most violent countries in the Americas.
