A large caravan of migrants is heading toward the United States, hoping to reach the southern border before the November election. They fear that if former President Donald Trump wins, he will close the border.
We run the risk that [to cross the border] “Maybe access will be blocked,” said Miguel Salazar, a migrant from El Salvador.
He said he worried that a new Trump administration could stop providing appointments to migrants through CBP One, the app migrants use to enter the U.S. legally — booking appointments at U.S. border crossings, where they present their cases to officials.
The app only works once migrants reach Mexico City or one of the states in northern Mexico.
It is unclear exactly how many migrants are involved in the caravan, from dozens of different countries, but estimates range from several hundred to 1,500 or more. according to Breitbart.
A large caravan of migrants is heading north toward the United States, hoping to reach the southern border before the November presidential election
The group left on Sunday from the southern Mexican town of Ciudad Hidalgo, located on a river bordering Guatemala.
Some said they had been waiting in the city for weeks for permits to travel to cities further north.
Among them was Oswaldo Reyna, a 55-year-old Cuban migrant who crossed the border into Mexico from Guatemala 45 days ago and was waiting in Ciudad Hidalgo to join the new caravan announced on social media.
He criticized Trump’s recent comments about migrants and the way they are trying to invade the United States.
“We are not delinquents,” he said. “We are hardworking people who left our country to advance in life, because in our homeland we suffer from many needs.”
The group left on Sunday from the southern Mexican town of Ciudad Hidalgo, on a river bordering Guatemala
It is unclear exactly how many migrants are involved in the caravan, from dozens of different countries, but it is estimated to range from several hundred to 1,500 or more.
Other migrants are expected to join the caravan as it moves further north.
Migrants attempting to travel through Mexico in recent years have formed large groups to reduce the risk of being attacked by gangs or detained by Mexican immigration officials during their journey.
But in southern Mexico, the caravans often break up because people get tired of walking hundreds of miles.
Mexico has also recently made it more difficult for migrants to reach the US border by bus or train.
It is still unclear whether the Mexican government will help the caravan
Travel permits are rarely issued to migrants who enter the country without visas. Thousands of migrants have been stopped by immigration officials at checkpoints in central and northern Mexico and then bused back to cities deep in the south of the country.
However, in the past the country has also provided police escorts for the migrants and provided them with shelter, food and drink.
It is still unclear whether the Mexican government will support this caravan.