As many as 5,000 migrants are marching from the southern Mexico state of Chiapas in hopes of reaching the northern border region with the United States.
Migrants from Central America, Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti initiated the trek Monday after they had grown frustrated with the long wait times the Mexican government was taking to process their refugee or exit visa applications at the main immigration processing center in the Chiapas town of Tapachula, near the Guatemala border.
Mexico’s National Migration Institute, which is tasked with approving or denying the applications, has been backed up with requests. Migrants normally wait weeks or months to have their status legalized, which allows them to work and move freely in the country.
The march is said to be the largest since June 2022 when 6,000 people, many from Venezuela, took off from Tapachula.
A caravan of 5,000 migrants departed from the southern Mexican border city of Tapachula on Monday to make their way to the northern border region across from the United States A migrant pushes a stroller as he walks along the road in Tapachula, Mexico, alongside a caravan of about 5,000 people from Central America, Venezuela, Haiti and Cuba in an attempt to reach the U.S. border The migrants left Tapachula and traveled nine miles to the city of Alvaro Obregón, where they slept Monday night and departed early Tuesday morning in hopes of walking about 15 more miles
Single adults and family units were seen traveling along the highway under the sun Monday as police served as escorts.
The group stopped traveled close to nine miles, reaching the municipality of Alvaro Obregón, where they camped out overnight, according to Mexican-American activist Irineo Mújica, one of the caravan organizers.
They were back on the road on Tuesday by 5am and planned to advance another 15 miles, according to Univision.Â
Venezuelan national Daniel González said that he had been on the road for three months and is not planning on returning because of the dire economic situation back home.
The latest caravan of about 5,000 is said to be the largest since 6,000 people, mostly Venezuelans left Tapachula in June 2022
Oscar Gutiérrez also abandoned Venezuela with his wife and two daughters and hopes the administration of President Joe Biden will allow them to resettle there.
‘In Venezuela things are very tough, we can’t live with the money we get, it’s not enough for us, and that’s why we’re going to the United States,’ he said.
‘We’re going to keep going,’ he said. ‘In Tapachula, nobody helps us.’
Honduras native Leonel Olveras said: ‘The don’t give out papers here. They ask us to wait for months. It’s too long.’
A migrant family joined a caravan of migrants that left Tapachula, Mexico, for the United States A migrant girl sleeps as other caravan members rest following a long day of travel Migrants haven grown tired of having to wait weeks or months to have their refugee or visa applications approved by Mexico’s immigration agency
Irineo Mújica, who in the past has been at the forefront of mass migrant, called for transit visas that will permit migrants to cross Mexico on their way to the U.S. border.
Some of the migrants in Tapachula had expressed interest to work for the government and help with the recovery efforts in the resort city of Acapulco, which was ravaged last week by Hurricane Otis.
‘We are trying to save lives with this kind of actions,’ Mújica said. ‘They (Mexican authorities) have ignored the problem and left the migrants stranded.’Â
The latest caravan comes at a time when President Biden is facing intense pressure to shut down the entre of undocumented immigrants at the southwestern United States border.
U.S. Customs Border and Protection recorded 269,735 encounters along the southern border region in September, the most since December 2022 when 252,315 interdictions were registered.Â
Overall, CBP reported 2,475,669 interdictions in fiscal year 2023 (October 2022 to September 2022), surpassing the previous fiscal year when 2,378,944 encounters were recorded.
‘In response to high rates of encounters across the southwest border in September, CBP surged resources and personnel,’ CBP acting commissioner Troy A. Miller said in an October 21 statement. ‘We are continually engaging with domestic and foreign partners to address historic hemispheric migration, including large migrant groups traveling on freight trains, and to enforce consequences including by preparing for direct repatriations to Venezuela.’
Source link : https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12693327/amp/Caravan-5000-migrants-Mexico-United-States-border.html
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Publish date : 2023-11-02 03:00:00
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