Migrant Caravan Heads North Towards US Border
Thousands of migrants have set off on foot from southern Mexico in an effort to reach the United States border, with at least 7,000 people estimated to have joined the migrant caravan. Among the group are thousands of children, mostly from South and Central America, including countries such as Cuba, Haiti, Honduras, Bangladesh, and India.
The caravan’s departure comes just days before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to discuss how to curb mass migration with the Mexican president, who has expressed a willingness to work with the US to address concerns about migration.
Several border crossings have recently been closed due to a migrant surge, with White House national security spokesman John Kirby stating that both US President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador share concern about the “dramatic” increase in migrants crossing their joint border. The number of people apprehended at the US southern border exceeded two million in both the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years.
Local media reports that many migrants decided to join the caravan after waiting for months for transit permits and that an estimated 3,000 children aged 14 or under are among those making the journey towards the US.
“The problem is that the southern border [with Guatemala] is open and 800 to 1,000 people are crossing it daily. If we don’t get out of Tapachula, the town will collapse,” said Luis García Villagrán, a migrant rights activist accompanying the caravan. “We tell the Mexican state that it has left us no other option but to take the coastal highway and walk as far as we can get.”
The migrants, who carried a banner reading “Exodus from poverty,” covered about 15km on the first morning after setting off at dawn on Christmas Eve. One Honduran migrant, José Santos, told Reuters news agency: “I was scared so I decided to come to Mexico hoping I’ll be allowed to go to the US.”
As the surge in immigration becomes a hot political topic in the US, with pressure mounting on President Biden to stem the flow across the US southern border, the meeting between President López Obrador and Secretary of State Blinken is expected to address how to tackle the issue of migration.