A new caravan of migrants are heading to the border hoping to enter the United States before the possibility of former President Donald Trump taking office once again.
On Sunday, the caravan composed of hundreds of migrants from roughly a dozen countries, set off on foot from Mexico’s southern border, aiming to reach the U.S. border. Many members of the group expressed a desire to arrive before the upcoming November elections, driven by concerns that a potential victory for Donald Trump could lead to a closure of the border to asylum-seekers.
“We are running the risk that permits (to cross the border) might be blocked,” said Miguel Salazar, a migrant from El Salvador. He fears that a new Trump administration might halt the use of CBP One, an app that asylum-seekers currently use to secure appointments at U.S. border posts to present their cases legally. The app is only functional once migrants reach Mexico City or states in northern Mexico. “Everyone wants to use that route,” added Salazar, 37.
The Associated Press reports that the group began their journey from Ciudad Hidalgo, a southern Mexican town adjacent to the river that forms the border with Guatemala. Many had been waiting in Ciudad Hidalgo for weeks, hoping to obtain permits to travel to northern towns.
In recent years, migrants traversing Mexico have organized into large groups to minimize the risk of attacks by gangs or detainment by Mexican immigration officials. However, these caravans often disband in southern Mexico due to the exhaustion from walking hundreds of miles.
Mexico has also tightened measures, making it more challenging for migrants to travel to the U.S. border via buses and trains. Travel permits are infrequently granted to migrants entering without visas, and numerous migrants have been detained by immigration officers at checkpoints in central and northern Mexico, only to be bused back to towns deep in the southern part of the country.
Oswaldo Reyna, a 55-year-old Cuban migrant, crossed into Mexico from Guatemala 45 days ago and waited in Ciudad Hidalgo to join the new caravan announced on social media. He criticized Trump’s recent comments characterizing migrants as invaders. “We are not delinquents,” Reyna stated. “We are hard-working people who have left our country to get ahead in life, because in our homeland we are suffering from many needs.”