Migrant Caravans Advance through Chiapas Confident of Crossing to US

At least 14 caravans have attempted to leave Chiapas, most of them have been dissolved between Chiapas and Oaxaca with the offer of bus transfers to other cities in the southeast, and even with the granting of Multiple Migratory Forms so they could board transport and continue to northern Mexico. Photo Edgar H. Clemente.

Tapachula, Chiapas. Migrants from two caravans, one that left on January 20th and the other on January 26th, are advancing along the coast of Chiapas in their eagerness to leave the southern border and reach Mexico City, and others who have not lost hope of trying to cross into the United States.

One contingent arrived this Tuesday in the municipality of Escuintla and the second was advancing from Mapastepec to Pijijiapan, the foreigners themselves reported.

Uncertainty is the atmosphere that prevails in both groups, who hear the news of mass deportations from the United States to countries such as Guatemala, Colombia and Mexico; and because unlike previous groups that asked for a permit to transit through the country, now they only want to be allowed to move forward.

“We are going very carefully but also with a lot of faith. For now we just want to get out of here (Chiapas) because there is no work. We are going to go to Mexico City and look for work, wait a while to see what happens, if something changes in the United States, there are already lawsuits in favor of migrants,” said Venezuelan Teresa Cristán.

She added that it is preferable to assume the risks of the journey than to return to her country where she says she is politically persecuted for participating in the protests against the government of Nicolás Maduro and supporting the opposition led by Edmundo González and María Corina Machado.

“I am not going back to Venezuela. If I go back, they will take me to jail. That is why I am going here. I want something better for myself and my family. I am going to try as much as I can,” added the 37-year-old woman.

Antony Torres, from Cuba, considered that the trip is a gamble. He can win and achieve the American dream, or he can lose and stay in Mexico. But it is worth trying.

“In Cuba everything is bad, there is no food, there is no medicine, we are far from our families, it is sad, it is difficult, but this is like the lottery, if we do not try we do not know what can happen,” said the man who travels with a brother and friends.

So far neither the National Institute of Migration nor the National Guard have made any attempt to stop the exodus of foreigners. On the contrary, local authorities provide humanitarian aid in the towns through which they pass, and security corporations provide custody on the road to speed up vehicle traffic and avoid accidents.

Since last October, when Claudia Sheinbaum assumed the Presidency of Mexico, at least 14 caravans have tried to leave Chiapas, most of them have been dissolved between Chiapas and Oaxaca with the offer of transfers by bus to other cities in the southeast, and even with the granting of Multiple Migratory Forms so that they could board transport and continue towards the north of Mexico.

Original article by Edgar H. Clemente, La Jornada, January 28, 2025.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.

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