
The caravan of Honduran migrants making their way to the US stormed through a border gate in Guatemala on Friday morning to run over a bridge to Mexico where they were met with tear gas from riot police before being allowed into the country and continue their march towards America.

The group of around 4,000 migrants overpowered police first in Tecun Uman, Guatemala, to make their way over the short bridge into Ciudad Hidalgo in Mexican's southernmost state of Chiapas.

At least a dozen people jumped into the water, either to try and swim across the river of simply because they were trying to get away from the crowds in the stifling heat.

The migrants had been forced to retreat and reorganize earlier in the day after being met with strong resistance.

After crossing the bridge, they were confronted by a daunting force of armed Mexican officers who threw tear gas in their direction and stood in lines, lifting up children who ran towards them and standing firm behind their shields.

After a standoff, they agreed they would let some of the migrants through and started asking that they form lines.

An aerial shot shows thousands of Honduran migrants marching from Guatemala to Mexico on Friday where they were met with riot police (shown bottom right) who threw tear gas at them and resisted them before agreeing to let them pass in, women and children first, before putting them on buses. Also shown are the small numbers who took their chances on the River Suchiate in makeshift rafts built out of discarded tires (top right). The caravan, which has around 4,000 people in it, is determined to make it to the US and has already crossed through two countries on foot to get there

The migrants crossed over the bridge on Friday after overpowering police in Guatemala (left) to make their way into Mexico (right), the last country they must get through before they reach America

The migrants were then allowed to cross the gates single file where Mexican police were waiting to put them on buses. Sources at the scene say they were told they would be allowed to go further north but where exactly the police are taking them remains unclear. On Thursday night, Mexican officials struck a deal with the US which involved them agreeing on sending any of the migrants who make their way into Mexico and claim asylum there to be put in shelters

Thousands of Honduran migrants were tear gassed by Mexican police as they stormed the border with

A baby is squashed between its mother and Mexican police as the migrants try to force their way into the country on Friday

A father shields his baby daughter from the chaos as he retreats from police. Sources on the border tell DailyMail.com the police threw tear gas into the crowds before suddenly deciding to let women and children through

The sudden clash was frightening and dangerous for the thousands of children involved. While the police officers tried to comfort the children and keep them out of the fray, the chaos grew too large to contain on Friday

The crowd broke down barriers and rushed towards the riot police, hellbent on getting through them no matter the cost. Above, a boy retreats in his mother's arms after coming up against the squad of officers

A woman wipes blood from her face after splitting her tooth as she tried to cross into Mexico from Guatemala on Friday

The line of police officers stood firm behind shields as the migrants ran fearlessly towards them

A Honduran child faints as she tries to cross to Mexico in the border city of Tecun Uman on October 19

Hondurans help a fellow migrant who appears to have collapsed as they reach the border crossing point with Mexico

Hondurans are seen waiting for fellow migrants to jump from the Guatemala-Mexico international border bridge into the Suchiate river, to swim or board a raft to reach Mexico

A woman hands a young girl to a young man as they arrive at the border with Mexico on October 19

Honduran migrants hold up a child in a stroller while gathering at the Guatemalan border to cross into Mexico

The map above shows the journey the caravan is taking from Honduras through Guatemala and up through Mexico towards the U.S.

They plan to allow women and children into the country first.

The decision flies in the face of President Trump's plea to Mexican officials on Thursday to put an end to the caravan's progress.

Though the State Department and Mexican officials have agreed on a plan to shelter any of the migrants who make asylum claims in shelters, their decision to let them carry on north on Friday sends them marching on towards the US.

Videos showed the thousands of migrants celebrating on the bridge once they had managed to get over the crossing.

A Honduran woman interviewed at the Guatemala/Mexico border by Noticias, who did not give her name, said: 'We are going to the United States. We know God is going to help us because we can’t live in Honduras, our country. Every month the president is raising electricity costs. We can’t live. We can’t live with him.

'We are suffering a lot (on this trip). Sleeping on the ground but it’s worth it for my children as they can see that my country is not worth anything. That president we have is worthless.

'Can I send a message to Trump? Mr. Trump I ask of you to take Juan Orlando [Hernandez] out from my country. You have him there. Look how my country is turning out. The young people in my country, Honduras’ youth, look at how they’re suffering, kids in coffins, kids along the way have died, pregnant women have died on us because of this delinquent man that we have in the country. … Trump has him in there. Take him out mister. Take him out of the country. We don’t want him. It’s a president he [Trump] placed, we didn’t place him.'

A Honduran woman interviewed at the Guatemala/Mexico border by Noticias, who did not give her name, said: 'We are going to the United States. We know God is going to help us because we can’t live in Honduras, our country. Every month the president is raising electricity costs. We can’t live. We can’t live with him'

A woman has her face and hair washed after being sprayed with tear gas at the Mexican border on Friday

A woman tries to wash out her mouth as another of the migrants douses her in water. The group was met with large resistance at the Mexican border after overpowering Guatemalan officials with considerably less violence

A Mexican police officer was among those injured by the gas as his comrades sprayed it into the crowds on Friday

The group has thousands of people in it and was an unstoppable force in Guatemala, heaving against police to break past barriers and move on. They continued moving as one in Mexico but were met with more resistance

The crowd lifted up barriers with ease, discarding them in the street as they carried on before being met with a line of police

The thousands of migrants climbed the roofs of checkpoint stands to try to sneak past and scaled fences too

A woman weeps into her child's hand as they try to enter Mexico with thousands of others in the caravan on Friday

Not all of the migrants went on foot. A small number took their chances in makeshift rafts made from discarded rubber tires and wood

They waved Honduran flags, chanted and beeped horns in victory and celebrated as they reached the Mexican side of the bridge.

Mexican police threw tear gas into the crowds, according to Guatemalan sources who spoke with DailyMail.com on Friday. Mexican officials then asked them to form lines and said they would allow women and children through first.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said on Twitter on Friday he had requested permission from Guatemala's government to send civil protection agents to help Hondurans in Guatemala and was seeking transport for those wishing to return home.

On Thursday, authorities there arrested a key activist who was waiting to welcome the migrants once they crossed over.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is on his way to Mexico to try to talk to local officials there.

Thousands of Honduran migrants have stormed a border crossing in Guatemala and have made their way into Mexico

Thousands of Honduran migrants pour through the border gate at Tecun Umna, Guatemala, to make their way into Mexico on Friday

A Honduran migrant climbs over the border gate at the Guatemalan - Mexico boorder as children cling on to it on the other side, sitting on their parents shoulders

Before the barrier came down, there were many who climbed over the fence to get t the other side

Some of the migrants climbed the gate first then pulled at it as their countrymen and women on the other side pushed to tear it down

Two Honduran men pull at the gate as others on the other side push it frantically to try to tear it down in Tecan Uman on Friday

There are thousands of children and babies among the migrants passing through. Drenched in sweat, they were passed above head between adults on Friday morning as chaos ensued at the border crossing

The migrants heaved against Guatemalan police who were dressed in riot gear and were able to overcome them with their large numbers

On the other side of the crossing, a single Guatemalan police officer prepares to run as the large group crashes down the gate

It did not take long for the group to reorganize on Friday morning after retreating briefly elsewhere in the town. Among the first to run over were elderly women and children, spurred on by the crowd behind them

Jubilant migrants shout and sing in victory as they run across the border into Mexico from Guatemala on Friday as Guatemalan police run out of their way

Mothers clutched their babies and young children to rush over the border, fearful of how the police would respond with their weapons

Many among the group of thousands are children. They set off from Honduras in search of a better life free of drug wars and desperate work prospects

A young boy is passed over the gate before the migrants were able to smash it open by two Honduran men who later helped the crowds tear it down

There are approximately 4,000 people traveling in total as part of the main group or in smaller, breakaway groups from Honduras

A Honduran migrant chants on Friday morning as the group makes their way towards the Mexican border crossing. They yelled: 'One way or another, we will pass' in Spanish and said: 'We are not smugglers, we are migrants'

A woman carries a baby across the border as others around her tote strollers and backpacks, their chosen belongings to make the trip

A frightened boy is lifted overhead in the crowd to climb the border fence in Guatemala on Friday morning as the group continues its march into Mexico and towards the US

Migrants saunter past the migration checkpoint that was left abandoned by workers after they flooded the gates and overpowered police

A woman is pictured after being injured during the chaotic crossing on Friday morning. She was pictured in Chiapas, the Mexican state the migrants crossed into

A jubilant Honduran man raises his arms in celebration on Friday after crossing the bridge from Guatemala into Mexico

Others used makeshift rafts made out of discarded car tires to cross the Suchiate River

On Friday the group chanted: 'We are not smugglers, we are migrants,' as they reorganized themselves on Friday afternoon.

The stern police presence comes after President Trump appealed directly to Mexico to help block the flood of people.

Hundreds of Mexican police officers and troops have stationed themselves along the other side of the tall fence which separates it from Guatemala. Guatemalan troops are also said to be putting up resistance.

Mexico has implemented what the ambassador to Guatemala calls a 'metered entry' system to try to control the vast numbers of people who are traveling there from other Central American countries.

Next stop USA: The group are now in Mexico, the last country they need to get through before they arrive at their intended destination

The immigrants breaking through the gate on the Mexican side of the bridge after crossing over from Guatemala

It did not take long for the group to crash open that gate, as they had with the other, and continue on their path

A Mexican police officer strokes his eye as he recovers from the scuffle with the migrants in a police van

A young man holds an umbrella over a baby on her father's shoulders to keep her out of the sun as they continue their march over the bridge and towards Mexico

Late on Thursday night, a small number of the Honduran group who broke off from the main crowd were able to successfully cross over into Mexico.

NBC reports that US officials are now tracking that small group as they make progress towards the US.

The migrants are fleeing Honduras where they say they have no prospects. Many are eager to escape the gang violence they say their children are doomed to encounter as they grow up.

Trump has commentated on their movements throughout by blaming their optimism on Democrats and calling their march towards America an 'assault' on the country.

On Thursday, as the group made progress through Guatemala, he tweeted: 'I am watching the Democrat Party led (because they want Open Borders and existing weak laws) assault on our country by Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, whose leaders are doing little to stop this large flow of people, INCLUDING MANY CRIMINALS, from entering Mexico to U.S.

Earlier: Police stand in riot gear at Mexico's border with Guatemala ready to take on the Honduran migrants who retreated on Friday to reevaluate their plan

There are thousands of people in the largest group. Some are pictured waiting near the border in Tecun Uman on Friday

A migrant prays as he waits for the group to decide what to do on Friday in Tecun Uman, Guatemala

'In addition to stopping all payments to these countries, which seem to have almost no control over their population, I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught - and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!'

'The assault on our country at our Southern Border, including the Criminal elements and DRUGS pouring in, is far more important to me, as President, than Trade or the USMCA.

'Hopefully Mexico will stop this onslaught at their Northern Border.

'All Democrats fault for weak laws!'

On the Mexican side, the foreign ministry said its government was in constant communication with members of the caravan explaining the migrants' options.

It said officials were already assisting some migrants who had crossed and requested refugee status.

On Thursday, Mexican officials said they had agreed on a plan with the US to establish shelters along the Mexican southern border for anyone in the caravan who makes an asylum claim in Mexico.

'Just today, the Mexican government, and this is a very important step, requested the intervention of the U.N., the Office of the High Commissioner on Refugees, to help Mexico review any asylum claims from the members of the caravan,' Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Geronimo Gutierrez told Fox News.

'That will allow us to have a process by which in our border we will make sure that of serving human rights, respecting international law, if there are legitimate claims to refugee, those can be processed in a very clear way,' he added.

Pompeo later released a statement to say the State Department supported the plan and would be 'ready to assist'.

'We welcome the government of Mexico’s statement that they will seek cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to address immigration issues in the region, including the influx of people arriving in Mexico.

'The United States stands ready to assist the Government of Mexico and UNHCR in this effort,' he said.

But the migrants are determined to plow through Mexico on foot and in trucks, eventually reaching the US border where they want to make their final crossing.