This caravan of migrants headed south to Mexico - for Christmas

FILE PHOTO: A man places a sticker of the "12th Caravan of Migrants" on his car in Laredo, Texas, U.S. December 16, 2019. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril/File Photo

JALPAN DE SERRA, Mexico (Reuters) - Poor Central American migrants who form caravans to fend off predatory gangs as they cross Mexico's interior en route to the United States have made global headlines and drawn the ire of President Donald Trump.

But last week in the Texan border city of Laredo a caravan of about 1,500 families made up of Mexican migrants and Americans of Mexican origin set out in the opposite direction - for their Christmas holidays.