SEATTLE - A new migrant caravan has left the southern Mexican city of Ciudad Hidalgo, next to the Guatemala border, with the goal of reaching the United States before the November elections. The follow-on group, formed by hundreds of people, started its long journey on July 21.
As the presidential elections loom, some of the caravan members said they hoped to make it to the United States before as they fear a crackdown following a Trump victory, The Associated Press reported. Some also said that they had been waiting at Ciudad Hidalgo for weeks for permits to facilitate their travel up north.
Travel permits are rarely given to migrants who enter the country without a visa, and thousands have been detained by Mexican authorities at checkpoints in the center and north of Mexico and bused back to cities in the southern part of the country. Increased enforcement by local authorities follows such requests by the Biden administration, which has sought to stem the flow of migrants seeking to enter the country before they get close.
Over the years, the frequency and size of migrant caravans has fluctuated. The first caravan detected started in 2017, and up until December 2022, 30 such groups had made their way to the U.S.-Mexico border. The year with the biggest number was 2022, when 14 caravans were formed. Most of them set off from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, while others begin their journeys from cities in Mexico.
The formation of these large caravans usually is an attempt to reduce the risk of being attacked by criminal organizations or stopped by Mexican immigration officials as they travel. Some of them have broken up as people get tired of walking for days or because authorities force them to, among other reasons.
Oswaldo Reyna, a 55-year-old migrant from Cuba said he crossed from Guatemala to Mexico 45 days ago, and waited in Ciudad Hidalgo to join the new caravan announced on social media. Reyna also made mention of Trump's recent comments about how migrants are trying to "invade" the U.S. "We are not delinquents," he said. "We are hard-working people who have left our country to get ahead in life, because in our homeland we are suffering from many needs."
Even if the caravan reaches the border before any additional measures are imposed, their chances of getting into the U.S. are slim.
The amount of apprehensions at the southern border over the past days have dropped drastically ever since the Biden administration implemented an executive action banning asylum-seeking once the seven-day average of daily encounters surpasses 2,500 and lifted once it drops below 1,500.
New figures obtained by CBS Newsshow that over the past week the daily average of encounters reached roughly 1,650. The number for all of July currently stands at 1,800.
Regardless of whether the ban is lifted, apprehensions in July are continuing the downward trend, with June already being the lowest of the Biden administration, according to Customs and Border Patrol.
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