A vast caravan of migrants, hailing from Central America, Venezuela, Cuba, and various other countries, made its way through Mexico on Sunday, en route to the U.S. border. This procession occurred just days before Secretary of State Antony Blinken‘s scheduled visit to Mexico City, where new agreements are expected to be discussed to address and control the surge of migrants seeking entry into the United States.
Comprising around 6,000 individuals, including many families with young children, this caravan marks the largest such movement in over a year. Its size serves as a clear indication that collaborative efforts by the Biden administration and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s government to deter migration are proving inadequate. A vast caravan
The Christmas Eve caravan embarked from the city of Tapachula, near Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala. Security forces observed the procession, employing what seemed to be a familiar strategy from the past, wherein authorities waited for the marchers to tire before offering a temporary legal status that many use to continue their journey northward.
Cristian Rivera, who was traveling alone after leaving his wife and child in Honduras, expressed frustration: “We’ve been waiting here for three or four months without an answer. Hopefully, with this march, there will be a change, and we can get the permission we need to head north.”
In May, President López Obrador agreed to accept migrants from countries like Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, who were turned away by the U.S. for not adhering to specific rules providing new legal pathways for asylum and other forms of migration. However, this deal, intended to curb a post-pandemic increase in migration, seems insufficient as the number of migrants surges once again. This surge is disrupting bilateral trade and fueling anti-migrant sentiments among conservative U.S. voters.
In the current month, up to 10,000 migrants were arrested daily at the U.S. southwest border. Additionally, U.S. Customs and Border Protection had to suspend cross-border rail traffic in Texas cities like Eagle Pass and El Paso due to migrants riding atop freight trains.
The number of arrests for illegal crossings has exceeded 2 million in each of the U.S. government’s last two fiscal years. This reflects technological changes that have made it easier for migrants to leave their homes in search of escape from poverty, natural disasters, political repression, and organized crime.