
Nearly 1,000 migrants have successfully entered southern Mexico after abandoning their Central American homes in search of a better life abroad.

Mexico's National Migration Institute said 969 migrants from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua crossed into Ciudad Hidalgo just days after new US-bound caravans of people set off from Central America.

Children were photographed in tears as they crossed into Mexico after walking for days on end with parents trying to escape poverty and crime-riddled lives back home.

A little girl cries while walking across the Suchiate river bridge with her mother after receiving their processing bands as Central American migrants cross the border between Guatemala and Mexico, near Ciudad Hidalgo

Honduran children receive a processing bracelet from a Mexican migration worker as they enter Mexico from Guatemala

Central American migrants, mostly Hondurans, meet at the Tecun Uman San Marcos park near the Mexican border to discuss the future of the caravan

Honduran migrants gather in a park in Tecun Uman, Guatemala, after arriving to the border with Mexico

Central American migrants are welcomed by a Mexican immigration official after crossing a border bridge between Guatemala and Mexico

Migrants from Honduras, part of a new caravan from Central America trying to reach the United States, show bracelets in an immigration facility in Ciudad Hidalgo

A family enter a Mexican migration station after crossing a border bridge between Guatemala and Mexico to register at an immigration facility

Mexican officials put wrist bands on the migrants as they entered the country to monitor the flow of people. The bands must be kept until the migrants register with authorities.

Once registered, migrants who met the requirements to stay would be issued humanitarian visas, allowing them to work in Mexico or continue to the U.S. border, said Ana Laura Martinez de Lara, director general of migratory control and verification.

Those who entered Mexico at the official border crossing had done so in a 'very orderly' and respectful manner, in contrast to clashes that took place at the frontier in October when a larger caravan began crossing from Guatemala, she said.

Some of the migrants expected to stay in Mexico to find work but it was too early to say how many, she said.

Central American migrants heading to the United States with a second caravan eat a meal as they wait to be checked by Mexican migration officials as they arrive at Ciudad Hidalgo

A Honduran family talk to relatives through Skype while they remain waiting to cross into Mexico at the park of Tecun Uman, Guatemala

A Honduran girls receives a processing bracelet from a Mexican migration worker as she enters Mexico from Guatemala

Honduran migrants wait at the border bridge in Tecun Uman, Guatemala, to receive their processing bands by Mexican officials

A father and his son walk across the Suchiate river bridge as Central American migrants cross the border between Guatemala and Mexico near Ciudad Hidalgo

Central American migrants heading to the United States with a second caravan wait to be checked by Mexican migration officials as they arrive at Ciudad Hidalgo

Martinez de Lara said approximately 700 people were still waiting to cross into Mexico from Tecun Uman on the Guatemalan side of the border. She could not say if any people had tried to cross into Mexico illegally.

Mexico's government said Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard planned to meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo soon for talks on their efforts to address the migration challenge. No date was yet set for the talks, a ministry spokeswoman said.

Caravans from Central America have inflamed the debate over US immigration policy, with President Donald Trump using the migrants to try to secure backing for his plan to build a border wall on the frontier with Mexico.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is pursuing a 'humanitarian' approach to the problem, vowing to stem the flow of people by finding jobs for the migrants. In exchange, he wants Trump to help spur economic development in the region.

The US government has been partially shut down for four weeks as Democrats resist Trump's demand that Congress provide $5.7 billion to fund his planned wall.