The migrant caravan reached the southern border of Mexico Thursday night and NBC News reports some have already crossed the border. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal described the situation along the Mexican border as tense:

Tension was palpable in Ciudad Hidalgo, a tiny tropical village in Mexico surrounded by rain forest and banana plantations that borders Tecun Uman in Guatemala, with the two towns separated by a muddy river. Late Thursday, some 300 Mexican federal police officers equipped with antiriot gear were deployed to the border crossing ahead of the caravan’s expected arrival…

Many migrants marched along the river banks on Thursday afternoon. “Let them know that we are going to cross to Mexico!” shouted a man clad with a cap in front of the crowd.

The border between Mexico and Guatemala (at this location) is the Suchiate River. Here’s what that looks like from the bridge spanning the river:

I am on the southern border of Mexico just as the first #caravan wave is set to cross up from Guatemala pic.twitter.com/rCLS1fhcr5

— Bill Weir (@BillWeirCNN) October 19, 2018

There are gates on both sides of the bridge to control traffic. Buzzfeed’s Karla Zabs is there covering developments this morning. A short time ago the caravan began massing at the Guatemalan gate:

The caravan has arrived at the gate to the Mexico/Guatemala bridge, held off by riot police.
“We want to work,” some yell. pic.twitter.com/pZKSwzsiiR

— KarlaZabs (@karlazabs) October 19, 2018

And that led to a standoff. The AP reports that “young men” eventually tore open the barricade and swarmed onto the bridge:

Migrants in a caravan traveling through Central America have broken down gates at a border crossing and are streaming toward a bridge to Mexico.

After arriving at the tall, yellow metal fence Friday, some clambered atop it and on U.S.-donated military jeeps.

Young men began violently tugging on the barrier and finally succeeded in tearing it down.

Men, women and children then rushed through toward the bridge, about 150 yards (137 meters) away.

This tweet translates as “Bombshell! Thousands of Hondurans manage to enter Mexican territory!”

¡BOMBAZO! ¡Miles de hondureños logran entrar a territorio mexicano! pic.twitter.com/IhRH05kc1J

— NB (@notibomba) October 19, 2018

The Noticias video below helps explain the sequence of events. This is a live stream but you can scroll back. First people were massed at the yellow gates on the Guatemalan side of the bridge. Then they broke through those gates and streamed onto the bridge as seen in that clip above. The migrants made their way to the Mexican side of the bridge and, at first, it appeared the gates were open, but they were pushed closed by police with riot shields.

A shoving match ensued between the police and the migrants trying to re-open the gates. Some migrants are throwing things at the police and the police appear to be using batons to keep people’s hands off the gates. Finally, when the gate is shut, you see some men jumping off the bridge into the water where they swim to a nearby raft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4NCjA5MtRA

Stalemate, at least for the moment:

People have sat down on the bridge, unsure what to do next. Most have been walking for 6 days now. pic.twitter.com/mOXEuRbDvL

— KarlaZabs (@karlazabs) October 19, 2018

I’ll update this post when the situation changes.