Some 26 thousand migrants They crossed Mexico this year in caravans. The figure is the highest recorded since 2018 when foreigners who arrived in Chiapas They began to organize in groups to walk to the northern border with the aim of crossing into the United States, according to figures from the National Migration Institute (INM).
According to the information to which El Sol de México had access, at least nine migrant caravans were organized this 2023, the largest left a week ago with about eight thousand people from Tapachula, Chiapas.
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The so-called Exodus of Poverty caravan Yesterday they arrived at the municipality of Mapastepec where they regrouped before continuing their route towards Pijijiapan, Tonalá and Arriaga, with the intention of leaving the Chiapas territory.
According to the members of the caravanthey decided to go out in a group because the INM It does not process their documents to move freely through Mexico.
Last Wednesday, the secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, the Secretary of Homeland SecurityAlejandro Mayorkas and the advisor of National securityLiz Sherwood-Randall met with the President in the National Palace to stop the migratory flow on the border between both countries.
A day later, López Obrador stated that the caravans are organized by human traffickers who deceive the migrants.
“It encourages migrationthere is misinformation, there are also human traffickers who dedicate themselves to that and organize caravans to reach the United States, many times not informing people.”
Víctor Hugo, originally from Guatemala, is part of a migrant caravan which is in Veracruz. Sitting in the Miguel Hidalgo park in the municipality of Ciudad Mendoza, he assured in an interview that he decided to join the quota which currently is about 500 people because in their country there are no job opportunities and there are many unsafety. He says that he was married, but in Tapachula they killed his wife and three-year-old daughter. “They didn’t want to be left alone, they came after me. I left Guatemala on October 30 with the caravan and then she came,” he said. He says that his wife’s mother told him about their deaths.
He migrant 30 years old remembers that he worked in a factory, in his country to which he cannot return because of the gangs that came looking for him at his house and want to kill him. For this reason, he says, his dream is to reach the United States, since life in Guatemala is more difficult every day.
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Its migrants They continue their path through Veracruz lands, but their passage through that state has not been easy. In an interview, Pablo Ballesteros, leader of the cmigrant aravana, expressed his discontent with some security elements who in the town of Motzorongo, belonging to the municipality of Tezonapa, attacked them with shots after defending themselves for what they had paid. He explained that the migrants had made the deal with a trucking company called Galaxy from which they rented buses to travel because the Immigration authorities They had not been allowed to board the train. However, the drivers were detained by the security forces. security and by wanting to defend them, the migrants They were intimidated with gunshots. Ballesteros shows the shell casings and assures that they will be used to file a lawsuit in Mexico City.
The caravansin the opinion of Javier Urbano, professor and researcher at the Ibeoamerican Universitynot only made visible the complex categorization of Mexico as a country of passage for migrants, but they have become a “safe” environment, since when traveling in groups, the risks of being violated are reduced.