MEXICO CITY -- Some 1,500 Central Americans left this city Friday to continue their uncertain journey to the U.S. despite measures announced by the Trump Administration that could limit their ability to seek asylum.

By early Saturday morning, an additional 3,500 migrants left on foot.

The vast majority said they were headed for Tijuana. Others, including Edwin Edgardo Hernandez and a group of a dozen or so, quietly plotted possible routes to the Texas border.

Hernandez has grand plans of reuniting with his brother in Dallas. But, for now, he said Atlanta beckons with a bigger sense of urgency: Jobs. Weeks ago, his former boss sent word to his community via recruiters that construction jobs await him and others to build stores like Wal-Marts and Home Depots -- the kind of construction work he once did here in the U.S., the very work that once helped him earn enough money to build a home back in Honduras.

“I’m told the economy is very good again,” he said. “I know from past experience that when there are jobs there will be a way to get in. It’s about resolve, and God, not Trump.”

Edwin Edgardo Hernandez is a Honduran who is part of the immigrant caravan headed north to the U.S. border. Hernandez is seen here Thursday, Nov. 8 in Mexico City, Mexico, at a stadium where thousands of immigrants were getting food and shelter, (Alfredo Corchado / Staff Photo)

Economists say the U.S. job market is in need of hundreds of thousands of workers, many in the kinds of low-paying jobs that immigrants -- authorized or not -- often fill. Meanwhile, the administration of President Donald Trump continues to enact stringent new policies designed to get a stranglehold on immigration -- authorized or not.

The administration's policies have paid off: Overall, about 51,000 migrants were caught at the U.S.-Mexico border in October, compared with about 41,500 migrants in September, according to Customs and Border Protection statistics released late Friday.

The number of immigrants traveling in families who were apprehended hit a new record. In October, about 23,000 persons traveling in a family were apprehended. With children traveling alone, they together made up 56 percent of all apprehensions in October.

The increase undoubtedly fuels some of the rancor against immigrants and asylum-seekers now coming from the White House. Trump used the caravan to ignite anti-immigrant sentiments and rally his base and justify the deployment of thousands of troops at the southwest border.

Trump also enacted new rules to deny asylum to almost any migrant who crosses the border illegally. While much of the attention about the latest migration from Central America is centered around the right to seek asylum, the booming U.S. economy is never far away from the minds of those who have been camping out inside a sports stadium near the Mexico City’s international airport.

The sprawling sports complex has been turned into massive tent cities, spread throughout the vast compound -- including among the bleachers -- that’s usually used for events from car racing to concerts.

The Mexico City government is providing as many as 18,000 meals a day, according to authorities. Volunteers provide everything from free haircuts, vaccinations and dental checkups, a table used as a station to recharge cell phones and one of the most of prized donations: a free pair of sturdy shoes for the long walk ahead, away from the uncertainty in their homeland, to what they believe is a better life north.

“There are lots of reasons people want to leave Central America, including violence and poverty,” said Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute. “But prospects of jobs at a time of economic growth in the United States may also be attracting people to attempt the journey north.”

1 / 6Aerial view of a temporary shelter set up for a migrant caravan of Central Americans heading to the US at the Sports City in Mexico City on November 9, 2018.(ALFREDO ESTRELLA / Getty Images) 2 / 6The caravan of Central American migrants whose trek toward the United States became a hot-button issue in the U.S. midterms elections fragmented Friday as hundreds left Mexico City to resume their journey. (ALFREDO ESTRELLA / Getty Images) 3 / 6A Central American migrant bypasses a subway turnstile after leaving the temporary shelter at the Jesus Martinez stadium, in Mexico City, Friday, Nov. 9, 2018. About 500 Central American migrants headed out of Mexico City on Friday to embark on the longest and most dangerous leg of their journey to the U.S. border, while thousands more were waiting one day more at the stadium.(Rodrigo Abd / AP) 4 / 6Central American migrants rest at the Jesus Martinez stadium in Mexico City, Mexico on November 8, 2018. (Benedicte Desrus / TNS) 5 / 6Migrants discuss their journey using a map posted inside the sports complex where thousands of migrants have been camped out for several days in Mexico City on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018.(Rebecca Blackwell / AP) 6 / 6The Mexico City government is providing some 18,000 meals a day for Central Americans inside the stadium as well as dental services and even a table that serves as a cell phone charging station.(Alfredo Corchado / The Dallas Morning News)

In interviews, many in the group pointed not just to the violence they face back home, but to the roaring U.S. economy that’s historically served as a magnet for millions of workers from across Mexico and Latin America. With migration from Mexico at an all-time low, and U.S. unemployment at 3.7 percent, the pull to head north is particularly strong on migrants like Hernandez, and a half-dozen men, all relatives, headed for Dallas. All said they have relatives and friends who serve as informal recruiters, urging them to leave Central America and head north for work.

“There’s no reason to go anywhere but Dallas,” said Eduardo Castillo, a farmer hard hit by drought and extortions and traveling with cousins and uncles. “All of Honduras is in Dallas,” he said, noting that it seems like his hometown of La Ceiba on the northern coast of Honduras has emptied out over the years as people head to places like North Texas.

Some traveled alone, but with the caravan, then bonded with others along the way. They echoed a common theme: The reasons for leaving for the U.S. aren’t just black and white, like violence or poverty vs. the safety of the U.S. Understanding the gray area is fundamental.

“Violence, lack of opportunity, it’s all the same thing,” said Bartolo Fuentes, a former Honduran legislator and human rights activist, who’s closely following the caravan. “All want and need to work, except, obviously, the children. There’s hypocrisy in the United States. Millions of poor Europeans migrated to the United States and many did so without documents for jobs. Why not Central Americans?”

To make his point, Fuentes took out his cell phone and showed announcement of a new caravan leaving Honduras Jan. 15th, conveniently after the holidays.

“This isn’t going to end tomorrow,” he said. “These people are not terrorists. They’re hard working people desperate for a job.”

He reiterated what other leaders in the region, including Mexico’s President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, have pointed out: The only way out of the current situation is through economic development for a region hard hit by past conflicts, drought, drug cartels and violent gangs.

As of Friday, about 4,500 immigrants were camped out at the stadium. More people were planning on setting out on foot Saturday, which they did, and throughout the weekend on their way north. Along the way they planned to stop in some of Mexico’s thriving cities, like Queretaro. For those headed for Tijuana, and many of them are, they plan to stop in Guadalajara. Many said they want to remain there.

Those headed for Texas, in smaller numbers, plan on seeking opportunity in cities near the Texas border, from Torreon, Chihuahua City, San Luis Potosi, Saltillo and Monterrey. They’ve no idea when they’ll reach the U.S.

Before leaving and during interviews, many said recruiters from some Mexican companies had stopped by their tents to tell them about possible jobs. Other Central Americans said U.S. cities that were hard hit by hurricanes, or with a booming construction industry, including North Texas, are key draws.

A group of Central American migrants resume their journey north after leaving the temporary shelter at the Jesus Martinez stadium, in Mexico City, Friday, Nov. 9, 2018. About 500 Central American migrants headed out of Mexico City on Friday to embark on the longest and most dangerous leg of their journey to the U.S. border, while thousands more were waiting one day more at the stadium. (Rodrigo Abd / The Associated Press)

Jorge Alberto Alvarado worked to rebuild New Orleans after Katrina. He now sees opportunity in South Carolina and North Carolina. A relative also told him about jobs in Tennessee.

“I just want to provide for my grandchildren,” said Alvarado, breaking into tears.

Juan Carlos Rivera, 26, of Copan, Honduras, sat in a corner of the complex, shirtless. He’s been on the road for a month and recalled how and why he decided to join the caravan. He first heard about it as he and his wife, a pre-kindergarten teacher, watched the nightly TV newscast.

Both had been talking about leaving Honduras. Rivera owned a barbershop and was being extorted by a gang. He had to pay them 10 percent of all his monthly earnings, or the equivalent of about $200. His wife had been assaulted on her way to work. They pondered the idea of taking their daughter and seeking political asylum. But just the mere idea of being separated from their daughter made the conversation short, a non-starter, he said.

As they watched TV about the latest caravan, both perked up. Rivera immediately called his uncle Wilfredo in Dallas who told him about a construction job. Another cousin in Miami told him about a roofing job. A caravan meant not paying thousands of dollars to a smuggler. Plus, there was safety in numbers. He and wife talked into the night. By morning, his wife and daughter left their town to move to an undisclosed place, away from imminent danger. Rivera took a bus and headed for Guatemala where he met the caravan.

Juan Carlos Rivera, 26, of Copan, Honduras, sits in a corner of the complex, waiting for his group to head north. (Alfredo Corchado / The Dallas Morning News)

Now cooped up inside the stadium while waiting for his group to head out, he pulled out a picture of his wife and daughter and grew teary-eyed. Told that asylum seekers camping out atop the international bridge connecting Juarez and El Paso had been remove, Rivera looked at his dwindling options, and grew more determined. If he could talk to Trump, or U.S. legislators, the American public, he said he would offer a suggestion: Either economic development for his region, or a guest worker program, not very different from the one the U.S. and Mexico once agreed on in times when the U.S. economy boomed and Americans went to war. He doesn’t want to live permanently in the U.S., he said. He just wants to work to sustain his family.

“We (the United States and Central Americans) need one another,” he said. “I respect U.S. laws and don’t want to break them, but there has to be a way forward because more and more people like me are headed north. We’ve sacrificed too much to go back empty-handed.”

Staff writer Dianne Solis in Dallas contributed to this report.