MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – About 3,000 Central American migrants moved slowly along a road near Mexico’s Guatemala border on Friday. They had rejected attempts to stop by immigration agents and instead chose to continue their northern trek.

A caravan consisting mostly women and children reached Acacoyagua earlier in the morning. It travelled 24 miles (38km) to Acacoyagua from where it had stopped in an unrelated southern Mexican hamlet. This was just outside Tapachula, the border town, which is where migrants started their journey.

Irineo Mujica is a leader of the caravan and a migrants advocate. She said that migrants generally rejected the offers of humanitarian visas by the agents to end their journey. Mujica stated that migrants would also have to consent to being moved to another state if they were to report to government shelters.

He said that people were suspicious of migration officials because they had broken past promises and some deportations.

They would have been granted temporary legal status for the migrants, and they could also access services like health care or the right to work.

An official from the national immigration institute stated that they could not give any details on the negotiations for visas.

It is not clear if Mexican authorities will try to stop the caravan. The Mexican authorities have used hard tactics in the past to stop fleeing migrants. Previous caravans were confronted by soldiers and migration agents. Others seek asylum protection.

U.S. authorities are urging Mexico’s government to reduce flow. In recent months, thousands of national guard and police soldiers have been deployed to this end by the Mexican government.