1,500 Migrants Rush to US Border Ahead of Trump’s Inauguration

In an attempt to walk or find transportation to the U.S. border roughly 1,500 migrants assembled in a new caravan in southern Mexico on Wednesday.

The majority of the migrants are from South and Central America. Some claim that they hope to get in the United States prior to Donald Trump’s January inauguration because they believe it may become more challenging after then. 

They began their journey by foot from Tapachula which is a city close to the Guatemalan border where hundreds of migrants are stuck because they lack the authorization to enter Mexico.

In 2018, migrant caravans started to emerge and for underprivileged migrants who lack the funds to compensate traffickers, caravans became their last hope. 

What is Caravan?

Attempts by migrants to enter Mexico alone or in small groups are frequently met with detention by law enforcement and sent back to southern Mexico or worse deportation to their home countries.  

There is safety in going as a big group because arresting gatherings of hundreds of migrants is difficult or impossible for immigration officials. Therefore law enforcement and immigration officials frequently attempt to arrest smaller groups while waiting for the caravan’s main body to diminish. The caravans typically disperse or halt within 150 miles or 250 kilometres.

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Are they able to make it to the border?

The Mexican government at the time assisted some of the migrants by setting up buses to border cities but this caused a backlash in the regions where the largest caravans formed in 2018 and 2019. Eventually groups from the first caravans made it to the border.

Since then the majority of caravan participants have looked for as many paid or hitchhiking rides as they can but frequently crowd empty trucks to hitch a ride on vacant cargo platforms. 

However since Mexican officials banned trucks, buses and taxis from stopping to pick up migrants that has become much more difficult. Authorities have finally provided temporary passage licences to disband the caravans in recent years.

What brings them to their actions?

The majority of immigrants trapped in Tapachula have a desire to leave because they typically cannot find employment to support themselves there. There is a sense of urgency among those who want to get to the border before Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

According to 23 year old Venezuelan immigrant Yotzeli Peña, “it is going to be more difficult, so we are going in hopes of getting an appointment quicker so we can cross before he (Trump) takes office. That would be simpler.”