The massive caravan of migrants passing through Mexico to the US border is the largest in more than a year — with an estimated 8,000 asylum seekers on the way.
Migrant families — mainly from Cuba, Haiti and Honduras — left for the United States on Sunday, walking more than nine miles from the southern Mexican border town of Tapachula to reach Alvaro Obregón.
Their Christmas dinner consisted of a sandwich, a bottle of water and a banana distributed by the local church, and they spent Christmas night sleeping on cardboard or plastic under awnings and tents.
They are once again headed for the southern border of the US, marking the largest migrant caravan approaching the US since June 2022.
But radical migrant rights activist Luis Garcia Villagran, who accompanied the group, has warned that the caravan could grow to 15,000 people, carrying signs reading “Exit poverty,” when it reaches the border.
“We’re not going to stop – we’re going to keep going,” he vowed.
The caravan of migrants heading to the United States is the largest in more than a year, with an estimated 6,000 people on the way. Juan Manuel Blanco/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Migrant families — mainly from Cuba, Haiti and Honduras — left for the United States on Sunday, walking more than nine miles from the southern Mexican border town of Tapachula to reach Alvaro Obregón. AP Migrant rights activist Luis Garcia Villagran, who accompanied the group, has warned that the caravan could grow to 15,000 people when it reaches the US border. AP
The influx of new immigrants threatens to further strain the already overburdened United States Border Patrol.
As many as 10,000 immigrants have been apprehended each day at the southwest border this month, US Customs and Border Patrol officials said.
The number of migrant arrivals in December also exceeded 200,000, and the Mexican government has said it has tracked about 680,000 migrants moving through the country in the first 11 months of 2023.
Last week, US Customs and Border Patrol halted train operations at international crossings into Texas to try to curb mass migration into the country.
“CBP continues to increase all available resources to safely process immigrants in response to increased levels of immigrant encounters at the southwest border, driven by smugglers peddling misinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals,” the agency said in a statement at the time.
Immigrant families spend Christmas Eve sleeping on cardboard or plastic under awnings and tents. REUTERS Their Christmas Eve dinner consisted of a sandwich, a bottle of water and a banana distributed by a local church. Reuters
“After observing the recent resurgence of smuggling organizations moving migrants through Mexico via freight train, CBP is taking additional actions to increase staffing and address this developmentally, including in cooperation with Mexican authorities.”
But Border Patrol agents say they have been overwhelmed by the surge, with migrants outnumbering agents 200 to 1 at one Texas crossing.
The National Border Patrol Council said “agents are more than willing to sacrifice their days off to protect our fellow Americans, but what we do is not enforce our laws; because of bad policies, our government allows cartels to control our borders,” he said in a statement to NewsNation.
Federal officials are set to meet with their Mexican counterparts in Mexico City to stem the flow of migrants entering the US.
The Mexican government says it is ready to help try to stop migrants from crossing its country. Reuters
The Mexican government has already said it is willing to help try to stop migrants from crossing its country, and White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said President Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador shared concerns about the “dramatic” increase, according to the BBC.
But López Obrador said he urged the Biden administration to ease its strict sanctions against the leftist governments of Cuba and Venezuela, where about 20% of the 617,865 migrants encountered by US agents at the border between October and November come from.
He also said he wants to see the US extend more money to struggling Latin American countries, which some migrants say they are fleeing in search of better economic opportunities.
Among those seeking to represent US interests in Mexico City on Wednesday are Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
