Migrant caravan in Tijuana hunkers down for the long haul

TIJUANA, Mexico - Standing before dozens of his fellow Central American migrants, Walter Coello raised a megaphone to his lips and made an urgent plea.

"I need four valiant women and four valiant men to help me," the 41-year-old Honduran told the crowd. He wanted to form a committee of volunteers to organize cleaning and security duties, and to fact-check rumors that were sowing fear and confusion.

"No one has information here. The days are passing us by and we aren't doing anything, companeros."

It was a sunny December afternoon, nearly two weeks after 2,500 migrants had moved into their latest home - El Barretal, an abandoned concert venue turned government shelter 30 minutes from the U.S. border - and a month since thousands of members of a roving caravan began streaming into this stressed border city.

Some are determined to cross into the United States as soon as possible. The Mexican government says it has helped an additional 1,100 migrants return to their home countries. Others have taken jobs in local factories or are trying to scrape