After three and a half years of record-breaking illegal immigration across the southern border, another migrant caravan is headed to the US.
With just 15 days to go until the presidential election, the large group of asylum seekers are attempting to see if they can enter the country ahead of a potentially major change in border policy.
It’s just the latest example of the widespread impact the 2024 US election will have on the world.
According to the Associated Press, about 2,000 migrants left Mexico’s southern border for the US, amid concerns about what will happen after the election.
A caravan of about 2,000 migrants is heading toward the U.S. southern border with just two weeks until the 2024 presidential election
Venezuelan migrant Josman Ramos told the AP: “Whoever wins should not close their doors to us. [they] must give us the support we need because we are all going through a really bad time.”
If Vice President Kamala Harris wins, Americans expect more of the same open border policies.
Meanwhile, if former President Donald Trump wins a non-consecutive term in 2024, he would return to a more aggressive policy that would close the border and trigger widespread deportations of those living in the U.S. illegally.
“We will carry out the largest deportation of criminals in American history,” Trump said at a September 18 rally in New York City — something he has said during many campaign speeches.
As many asylum seekers flee oppressive governments and dangerous living conditions, they are headed to a country where most voters say they want stricter policies to keep out the flow of migrants across the southern border.
Both Harris and Trump have promised tougher policies — but Republicans think Harris would keep current lax laws in place.
“Those who unlawfully cross our borders will be apprehended, removed and barred from returning for five years,” the vice president said in her Sept. 27 speech in the border state of Arizona.
Migrants and asylum seekers worry about what will happen in the US elections as both candidates promise to tighten the southern border
Harris was appointed “border czar” by President Joe Biden, but the vice president has faced widespread criticism over his handling of the crisis.
Since Biden took office, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has encountered approximately 8.5 million migrants seeking asylum or illegally crossing the southern U.S. border
Trump has made migration, illegal immigration and the crime committed by these individuals a centerpiece of his campaign since he first ran for president in 2016, and he promises to restore order if he gets another term.
This is happening despite the fact that CBP has reported the lowest number of border crossings since 2020, with only 54,000 apprehensions in September.