A fresh wave of up to 15,000 migrants is set to crash into the already flooded US southern border as Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepares for a dire state visit to Mexico later this week.
Hailing 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’s meeting with Mexican President Andres Lopez Manuel Obrador to discuss surging illegal immigration.
Defiant radical migrant-rights activist Luis Garcia Villagran, who is accompanying the group, predicted that staggering number could swell to 15,000 people by the time it reaches the border.
“We won’t stop — we’ll keep walking,’’ he vowed.
Departing from the southern Mexican city of Tapachula, the throng began its journey Christmas Eve.
Migrants at the front of the mass held a large cross along with a banner reading “Exodus from poverty.”
Tapachula officials said the town’s resources were straining to accommodate the migrants who gathered there in unmanageable droves.
“The problem is that the southern border [with Guatemala] is open, and 800 to 1,000 people are crossing it daily,” Villagran said. “If we don’t get out of Tapachula, the town will collapse.”
The caravan advanced roughly 9 miles after beginning their trek at dawn Sunday, according to the BBC.
There have been more than 2 million migrant encounters at the US southern border in the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years, with officials there warning that the influx shows no signs of slowing.
Nearly a quarter million migrants crossed the southern US border in November alone — a new high for the month and the third highest total in history.
With pressure mounting on the White House to tackle the spiraling crisis, Obrador has signaled a willingness to work with US officials.
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