Migrants Resume Journey in Mexico, Accuse Officials of Broken Promises

A group of over 1,000 migrants in Mexico restarted their journey towards the US border, claiming that Mexican authorities had failed to keep their promise of providing humanitarian visas. Carrying a banner that read “Exodus from poverty” and chanting “We are not criminals. We are international workers,” the migrants began their march at dawn from the town of Arriaga in the southern state of Chiapas.

This same group had previously disbanded a caravan that started on Christmas Eve, after immigration officials committed to addressing their demands, including providing visas for free travel within Mexico. However, according to Luis Garcia Villagran, an activist with the caravan, the authorities did not fulfill their promise. They placed the migrants in shelters and separated families which caused serious problems.

Expressing their frustration, Rosa Vasquez from El Salvador stated, “Immigration lied to us. They made a promise that they didn’t keep. They just wanted to break up the group.” The migrants, including families with children from Central America and Venezuela, feel misled by officials.

Migration has been a pressing issue, with the US seeking increased efforts to curb the flow during recent visits by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other senior officials to Mexico. Right-wing US Republicans in Congress have tied additional funding requests for Ukraine and Israel to the demand for sweeping new measures against illegal migration.
Before Blinken’s visit, US border police reported approximately 10,000 daily migrant crossings, with many fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries. Some people who want to move to a new place pay others to help them cross Mexico in trucks, while some walk in groups called caravans, facing hunger, tiredness, and danger along the way. This shows how hard it is for people looking for a better life, and there are ongoing efforts to deal with immigration problems on both sides of the border.