A group of up to 2,000 migrants left southern Mexico on Friday, aiming to reach the U.S. border before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
The migrants are looking to capitalize on President Joe Biden’s more relaxed asylum and border policies, with reports suggesting that additional groups may also attempt the journey before Trump enacts stricter border measures and mass deportations once in office.
This latest caravan, which is the 10th such group since October, started its journey northward on Friday from the Mexican state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala. According to Border Report, the caravan is expected to reach Juárez, Mexico, in a few days, which is located just south of El Paso, Texas.

“These reported caravans generally travel very slowly and often splinter before they make progress moving northbound toward the southwest border,” a spokesperson from U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Newsweek. “Nevertheless, CBP will continue to monitor developments in coordination with our foreign and interagency counterparts, as we have with previous movements of migrants.”
Various migrant shelter operators in Mexico, who were contacted by Border Report, have reported seeing an increase in new arrivals, but not at levels that have overwhelmed their capacity for beds, food, or cleaning supplies. However, some are concerned that this could change once Trump enacts his mass deportation plan for illegal immigrants, which could put additional pressure on cities like Juárez to manage not just the flow of migrants from the south but also the large numbers being sent back to Mexico from the U.S.
“There must be an agreement between the government of Mexico and the government of the United States to establish humanitarian policies in favor of all these people,” said Luis García Villagrán, director of the Center for Human Dignity and a key organizer of the caravan, while speaking to reporters on Thursday in Tapachula, southern Chiapas, according to Border Report.
The Center for Human Dignity is a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of migrants and refugees.
“We are not criminals,” Villagrán stated. “All we are asking for is an opportunity for life.”
{Matzav.com}