A massive caravan of immigrants crossing Mexico with the goal of reaching the United States border is the largest in over a year – with an estimated number of more than 8,000 asylum seekers on the way.
Immigrant families – primarily from Cuba, Haiti, and Honduras – set out for the United States on Sunday, walking more than 14 kilometers from the Mexican city of Tapachula, on the southern border, to reach Álvaro Obregón.
The Christmas dinner included sandwiches, a bottle of water, and a banana distributed by a local church, and they spent Christmas night sleeping on cardboard or plastic under tarps and tents.
Activist Luis Garcia Villagran, who is accompanying the group, warned that the caravan could grow to 15,000 people by the time it reaches the border.
The influx of new migrants threatens to put even more pressure on the already overwhelmed U.S. Border Patrol.
About 10,000 migrants were apprehended daily at the southwest border this month, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.
The total number of immigrants recorded at the border in December alone has already surpassed 200,000. According to the Mexican government, around 680,000 immigrants have traveled through the country in the first 11 months of 2023.
U.S. federal authorities are set to meet with representatives of the Mexican government in Mexico City to see if they can contain the wave of immigrants arriving in the U.S. The Mexican government has already stated that it is willing to help try to prevent immigrants from crossing the country.
But López Obrador, the president of Mexico, said that the Biden administration should ease restrictive sanctions against the leftist governments of Cuba and Venezuela, from which about 20% of the 617,865 immigrants encountered by U.S. agents at the border between October and November originated.
He also stated that he wants to see the U.S. distribute more money to struggling Latin American countries, from which some immigrants say they are fleeing in search of better economic opportunities.
Source: The New York Post