
Migrants marching en masse towards the US have ridiculed Donald Trump's suggestion that their sprawling caravan had been infiltrated by terrorists - telling DailyMail.com: 'We are workers not ISIS.'

President Trump continues to maintain the 7,000-plus human convoy trudging north through Mexico likely contains 'criminals and unknown Middle Easterners'.

But his comments were met with scorn here in the dusty, tumbledown tent camp that has sprung up across the southern city of Huixtla, where the caravan paused briefly for migrants to rest and seek medical care.

'It's a complete invention,' scoffed Honduran Augustine Bonilla, 27.

'Donald Trump just doesn't like immigrants. In my country there is violence and no work. We are fleeing from the same criminals he is complaining about.'

Honduran immigrants marching towards the US border have hit back at Trump's comments after he suggested there were 'criminals and unknown middle easterners' in the caravan. Pictured above is Denis Arjijo, 40, Wendy Gonzalez, 28, and their four kids, twins Jordi and Jonni 17, Keneth, 10, and four-year-old April, who have trekked more than 500 miles on foot

Thousands of Hondurans, fleeing poverty and violence, took a day of rest and sought medical care in Huixtla, Chiapas, Mexico on Tuesday while making their way north. Their temporary home was Huixtla's parque central, where more than a migrants bedded down on flattened cardboard boxes, sheltering beneath makeshift canopies built from ropes and plastic tarps

Migrants were seen relaxing and playing cards on the streets of Huixtla. The caravan still has another 1,100 miles to go before they get to the closest stretch of US border in McAllen, Texas

Hondurans Inez Rodriguez (left) 61, and Augustine Bonilla (right) 27, both slammed Trump's recent comments. 'Trump thinks we are the same as Arabs because of our skin color,' Rodriguez said. 'There was never an organization behind this - it's the poor standing up for themselves'

President Trump and Vice President Pence also alleged Tuesday that the migrant caravan was being financed by leftist groups allied to despised Venezuelan despot Nicolás Maduro and 'the Democrats'

His defiance was echoed by fellow Honduran Inez Rodriguez, 61, who told DailyMail.com: 'Trump thinks we are the same as Arabs because of our skin color.

'But there is no conspiracy. There is no bearded guy in a cave calling the shots. The caravan started when 50 of the poorest people got together and said enough is enough.

'There was never an organization behind this - it's the poor standing up for themselves.'

Vice President Mike Pence also alleged Tuesday that the migrant caravan was being financed by leftist groups allied to despised Venezuelan despot Nicolás Maduro.

Trump chimed in as Pence made the claims during a bill signing at the Oval Office, the president adding: 'And the Democrats maybe? And the Democrats.'

Neither have offered any evidence or names of alleged conspirators.

A previous caravan that marched across Mexico to the US border in April was organized by activists from Pueblas Sin Fronteras who have staged similar events since 2010.

But while the group's operatives are once more on the front line they claim they are merely supporting the thousands of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, not coordinating them.

'We joined at the very beginning. I saw on the news that people were gathering. I read about it on Facebook,' said Wendy Gonzalez, 28, who one week ago abandoned her home in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, in search of a new life.

Since then she, her husband Denis Arjijo, 40, and their four kids, twins Jordi and Jonni, 17, Keneth, 10, and four-year-old April, have trekked more than 500 miles on foot, first through gang-plagued Guatemala then across the border to Mexico.

Thousands more were camped on sidewalks and squares across the small rural town of 32,000 inhabitants, 40 miles north of the Mexico-Guatemala border

Pictured above, Honduran migrants are seen lining up to receive sustenance handed out by Mexican volunteers. Some have been working 72 hours straight handing out food and water, with church groups and local volunteers joining in the relief effort

Ignacio Arrazola, 38, a licensed psychologist and representative from the Sistema Municipal de Protection Civil said there had been reports of migrants drinking and taking drugs but no widespread disorder, and said 'It's not surprising that some of these people have problems'

Caravan: As many as 7,000 people are now traveling in the caravan which was seen from the air in Tapachula, in southern Mexico - still 1,600 miles from the US border

Their temporary home Tuesday night was Huixtla's parque central, where more than a thousand migrants bedded down on flattened cardboard boxes, sheltering beneath makeshift canopies built from ropes and plastic tarps.

Thousands more were camped on sidewalks and squares across the small rural town of 32,000 inhabitants, 40 miles north of the Mexico-Guatemala border.

They have another 1,100 miles to go before they get to the closest stretch of US border in McAllen, Texas.

'I feel safe here. We are workers, not terrorists. Just people trying to better our lives,' said Wendy, who says she will only go as far as Mexico City, where she has family.

'I've never met anybody from the Middle East in my whole life. Trump's suggestion is just stupid. It's really poor people he doesn't like and people with dark skin.'

The caravan is said to have begun 'spontaneously' in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula on October 12 when local TV reported a group of 150 migrants getting ready to leave.

By the time they crossed into Mexico one week later - largely unhindered - the column had swollen to 7,200 participants, sparking a flurry of angry Tweets from President Trump and igniting political debate ahead of the US midterm elections.

Supporters say the migrants are fleeing persecution and banding together so they are not preyed upon by gangs but Trump plans to 'send as many troops as necessary' to the US border to repel what he describes as an 'assault'.

The president has been equally scathing of the apparent inaction of the Mexican government, whose latest estimates suggest the caravan's numbers have fallen to 4,500 as people either go home or apply for asylum locally.

Medical workers from the city's municipal clinic treated 538 migrants Monday for a variety of ailments from welts, blisters, coughs and fevers

Dr Gloria Olvera Hernandez, who helped provide medical supports to the migrants said, 'Our big fear is that the people could bring an epidemic of dengue, zika or cholera'

Supporters say the migrants are fleeing persecution and banding together so they are not preyed upon by gangs. Above they are seen camping out on the sidewalk in the Mexican city

A clown entertains children and families as Central American migrants. The Municipality of Huixtla organized various activities and health facilities for the migrants as they took a rest in their city for 24 hours

However, city officials in Huixtla told DailyMail.com that as many as 5,000 migrants had traipsed into town over the past three days, many relying on handouts and aid agencies for survival.

Ignacio Arrazola, a licensed psychologist and representative from the Sistema Municipal de Protection Civil, said there had been reports of migrants drinking and taking drugs but no widespread disorder.

'It's not surprising that some of these people have problems,' he told DailyMail.com. 'Many of them have emotionally collapsed because they have had to leave families and terrible situations.'

A colleague, Elizabeth Marroquin, said she had been working 72 hours straight handing out food and water, with church groups and local volunteers joining in the relief effort.

'I don't have time to read what the President of the US has been saying on Twitter,' she said. 'They are thirsty and tired. It's a travesty they have had to leave their countries and do this.'

Medical workers from the city's municipal clinic treated 538 migrants Monday for a variety of ailments from welts, blisters, coughs and fevers.

They treated more than a thousand Tuesday handing out antibiotics, painkillers, electrolytes and other essential medicines.

'Our big fear is that the people could bring an epidemic of dengue, zika or cholera,' said Dr Gloria Olvera Hernandez. 'Right now we have all these diseases controlled in Mexico. But if it exists elsewhere it could come here.'

Medical workers treated more than a thousand Tuesday handing out antibiotics, painkillers, electrolytes and other essential medicines

Many have walked more than 500 miles so far and have been traveling for nearly two weeks. Trump has said he plans to 'send as many troops as necessary' to the US border to repel what he describes as an 'assault'

Local civil protection workers and migrants clean the streets as Central American migrants make their way north

Melvin Alvarez, 24, a male traveling alone, denies ever being in a gang and said the suggestion he posed a threat was risible

Best friends Maria Sanchez (left) and Mariela Rodriguez (right) are only 16 years old and left their home country with the blessing of their families

Despite the searing 92F heat and inhospitable conditions, many of the migrants quizzed about their plans by DailyMail.com vowed to press on rather than return to a bleak future in their homeland.

Melvin Alvarez, 24, a male traveling alone, denied ever being in a gang and said the suggestion he posed a threat was risible.

He joined the caravan in Guatemala City, crossed the Suchiate River into Mexico by using a plank of wood as a makeshift raft and says he'll seek asylum in Mexico if he can't make it all the way to the US.

'I was actually making the journey alone when I heard about the group and joined. There's strength in numbers, we are protected from the gangs and the bandits,' he said.

Sitting quietly on the sun-cracked steps of the parque central, best friends Maria Sanchez and Mariela Rodriguez, epitomize the mix of despair and determination running through the camp.

The pair are only 16 and yet have travelled alone with the caravan with the blessing of their families back in Colon, Honduras.

'I've been walking for nine days. I have not had any problems, the men treat us with respect. I'm not worried because I'm accompanied by the hand of God,' said Mariela.

'My mom cried when I told her I was leaving. Since I crossed the border into Mexico I haven't had a phone. She doesn't know if I am dead or alive.'

Wiping tears from her eyes, Maria added: 'I keep walking because there is no future for me in Honduras. I'm going to walk all the way to the United States.

'I hope the people there will have good in their hearts and welcome me. I have faith they will accept us.'