A new wave of up to 15,000 migrants will crash into the already flooded southern border of the United States as Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepares for a terrible state visit to Mexico later this week.
Coming mostly from Cuba, Haiti and Honduras, the newly formed caravan of about 8,000 asylum seekers began its march through Mexico to the border days before Blinken was scheduled to meet with Mexican President Andrés López Manuel Obrador to discuss the increase in illegal immigration.
Defiant radical immigrant rights activist Luis García Villagrán, who accompanies the group, predicted the staggering number could rise to 15,000 people when it reaches the border.
“We will not stop, we will continue walking,” he promised.
Starting from the city of Tapachula in southern Mexico, the crowd began their journey on Christmas Eve.
Immigrants at the front of the mass held a large cross along with a banner that read “Exodus from poverty.”
Tapachula officials said the city’s resources were being stretched to accommodate migrants who gathered there in unmanageable herds.
“The problem is that the southern border [with Guatemala] It is open and between 800 and 1,000 people cross it daily,” said Villagrán. “If we don’t leave Tapachula, the town will collapse.”
Those leading the latest mass migrant march through Mexico held a banner that read “Exodus from poverty.” AP
The caravan advanced approximately 14 kilometers after beginning its journey at dawn on Sunday, according to the BBC.
There have been more than 2 million migrant encounters at the US southern border in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, and officials have warned that the influx shows no signs of slowing.
Nearly a quarter-million migrants crossed the U.S. southern border in November alone, a new high for the month and the third-highest total in history.
As pressure mounts on the White House to address the growing crisis, Obrador has signaled his willingness to work with U.S. officials.
The group began their trip on Christmas Eve. AP The number of migrants in a caravan marching towards the US border is estimated at 8,000, but could rise to 15,000, organizers said. AP The caravan occurs days before the visit to Mexico of the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. Juan Manuel Blanco/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The Mexican president spoke with US President Biden last week to address illegal immigration ahead of Blinken’s visit on Wednesday.
Accompanying Blinken on the crucial trip will be the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, and a National Security advisor, Liz Sherwood-Randall.
Obregón said he is urging the Biden administration to ease restrictive U.S. sanctions against the leftist governments of Cuba and Venezuela, where about 20% of the 617,865 migrants U.S. agents encountered at the border between October and November were from.
Obrador said he also wants the United States to distribute more financial aid to struggling Latin American countries, where some immigrants say they flee in search of better economic opportunities.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tried last week to downplay the surprising numbers emerging from the border.
“What we are seeing here at the border, the increase in the migratory flow, certainly has ups and downs,” he said. “And we are in a time of year when we see more at the border. And it’s not unusual. “This is an immigration system that has been broken for decades.”
But Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel rejected that position Saturday, arguing that the incursion is reaching unprecedented levels.
“The numbers don’t lie,” McDaniel said. “Joe Biden created a humanitarian crisis at our border and is actively weakening our national security.”
-Postal services
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Source: vtt.edu.vn