
Thousands of Central American migrants trying to get to the United States stood off against local police at Mexico's southern border and begged for food and shelter - as President Donald Trump ragged on Democrats for being 'obstructionist' with immigration laws.

The president took to his Twitter on Saturday morning to blast Democrats for not working to get proper immigration laws, which he claimed could be finalized in an hour.

'If the Democrats would stop being obstructionists and come together, we could write up and agree to new immigration laws in less than one hour,' he claimed.

'Look at the needless pain and suffering that they are causing. Look at the horrors taking place on the Border. Chuck & Nancy, call me!

The president took to his Twitter on Saturday morning to blast Democrats for not working to get proper immigration laws

On Friday, some of the 4,000 migrants in the caravan burst through a Guatemalan border fence and rushed onto the bridge over the Suchiate River

On Friday, members of the caravan of 4,000 migrants had burst through a Guatemalan border fence and rushed onto the bridge over the Suchiate River, defying Mexican authorities' entreaties for an orderly crossing and U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of retaliation.

But they were met by a wall of police with riot shields on the Mexican side of the bridge. About 50 managed to push their way through before officers unleashed pepper spray and the rest retreated, joining the sea of humanity on the bridge.

Police and immigration agents began letting small groups of 10, 20 or 30 people through the gates if they wanted to apply for refugee status. Once they file a claim, they can go to a shelter to spend the night.

Police and immigration agents began letting small groups of 10, 20 or 30 people through the gates if they wanted to apply for refugee status. Once they file a claim, they can go to a shelter to spend the night

As night fell, many migrants took to the nearby river to bathe as they realized they wouldn't be allowed through the border

A father uses the river to wash his son's head as thousands of migrants struggled knowing they wouldn't get Mexican refugee status in the night

Central American migrants reach the shore on the Mexican side of the Suchiate River after wading acros

As night fell on the bridge, the migrants' frustration turned to despair as women clutching small children took up the rows in front of the gate pleading with the Mexican federal police. Some migrants yelled 'We are hungry!' Others wailed that they had children while others set up tarps to prepare for the night sleeping on the increasingly dirty and befouled bridge.

'Please, it is night. Let us pass,' Alba Luz Giron Ramirez, a former shop employee and mother of three, pleaded to the officers.

Giron said they had come from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and that gangs had killed her brother and threatened her.

Other migrants arrived at the bridge via makeshift rafts

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

'We want them to give us permission to go to Mexico,' her 5-year-old son Ramon said in a child's voice. 'We wouldn't stay.'

Alison Danisa wept as she knelt in the garbage already piling up on the bridge, clutching her naked 11-month-old infant to her breast.

'We have suffered so much. She has a fever and we brought nothing,' she said, showing the baby's bare bottom to indicate they had no diapers.

A Mexican marine official with a loudspeaker approached the gate and told migrants they would be taken in trucks to 'a humanitarian attention center' in Tapachula, a border city in the Mexican state of Chiapas. But the official did not say when this would happen.

A migrant tries to avoid the Mexican Federal Police as he prepares to jump into the river

Migrants organized a rope brigade to ford the river's muddy waters

Late Friday night, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said in an address to the nation that a large group of migrants had 'tried to enter Mexican territory irregularly, attacking and even hurting some elements of the Federal Police.'

'Mexico does not permit and will not permit entry into its territory in an irregular fashion, much less in a violent fashion,' he said.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez tweeted late Friday that he spoke with his Guatemalan counterpart, Jimmy Morales, and asked permission to send Honduran civil protection personnel to the bridge to help the migrants.

'I also asked authorization to hire ground transportation for anyone who wants to return and an air bridge for special cases of women, children, the elderly and the sick,' Hernandez tweeted.

Some migrants floated across on rafts operated by local residents who usually charge a dollar or two to make the crossing

Many migrants weren't able to find shelter for the night and were forced to stick to the streets

One migrant was lucky enough to find a bench to rest in while he waited to get refugee status

A Honduran baby migrant, taking part in a caravan to the US, rests in Ciudad Tecun Uman, Guatema

Hernandez and Morales are expected to meet in Guatemala early Saturday to discuss the situation.

Some migrants, tired of waiting, jumped off the bridge into the Suchiate River on Friday. Migrants organized a rope brigade to ford its muddy waters, and some floated across on rafts operated by local residents who usually charge a dollar or two to make the crossing.

The U.S. president has made it clear to Mexico that he is monitoring its response. On Thursday he threatened to close the U.S. border if Mexico didn't stop the caravan. Later that day he tweeted a video of Mexican federal police deploying at the Guatemalan border and wrote: 'Thank you Mexico, we look forward to working with you!'

The U.S. president has made it clear to Mexico that he is monitoring its response. On Thursday he threatened to close the U.S. border if Mexico didn't stop the caravan

Mexican officials said those with passports and valid visas - only a tiny minority of those trying to cross - would be let in immediately.

Migrants who want to apply for refuge in Mexico were welcome to do so, they said, but any who decide to cross illegally and are caught will be detained and deported.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Friday with President Enrique Pena Nieto and Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Videgaray in Mexico City, with the caravan high on the agenda.

A Honduran migrant heading in a caravan to the US, prepares to jump to the Suchiate River from the Guatemala-Mexico international border bridge

A man holding a child gets help coming down from the bridge after realizing that he may not make it through the checkpoint

A group of Central American migrants wade across the Suchiate River

At a news conference with Videgaray, Pompeo called illegal migration a 'crisis' and emphasized 'the importance of stopping this flow before it reaches the U.S. border,' while also acknowledging Mexico's right to handle the crisis in a sovereign fashion.

'Mexico will make its decision,' Pompeo said. 'Its leaders and its people will decide the best way to achieve what I believe are our shared objectives.'

Elizabeth Oglesby, a professor at the University of Arizona's Center for Latin American Studies, said people join caravans like this because it's a way to make the journey in a relatively safe manner and avoid having to pay thousands of dollars to smugglers. She disputed Pompeo's assertion that that there is a 'crisis' of migration.

'The border is not in crisis. This is not a migration crisis. ... Yes, we are seeing some spikes in Central Americans crossing the border, but overall migration is at a 40-year low,' Oglesby said.

A group of Central American migrants gather in the central park of Ciudad Hidlago

A tired girl holds onto a fence as she tries to get some rest