Migrants walk in a caravan in Villa Comaltitlán, Mexico, November 7, 2024. Photo Daniel Becerril (REUTERS)
Three groups have left for the United States since the election, while humanitarian organizations warn that the number will rise before the end of the year
Donald Trump’s shadow reaches Tapachula, in the state of Chiapas. A border city that has become the key point through which all those who want to cross Mexico and reach the United States pass. The Republican’s victory in the last elections has caused many migrants to speed up their pace before the new president arrives at the White House. They fear that Trump’s anti-immigration policies will cut short the dream of having a better life on the other side of the border. Last Tuesday, a caravan with some 1,600 people left Tapachula and arrived in San Pedro Tapanatepec, in Oaxaca, 300 kilometers away, a week later. This Tuesday another group of some 2,000 people set out on the road with the purpose of reaching Mexico City. It is the 14th caravan to head north so far this year and the third since the elections were held in the neighboring country. Behind them, thousands more are preparing to begin the march. “As the date of the change of administration approaches, we think that the number of migrants who want to reach the United States before Trump takes office will increase,” says a source who works with migrants.
Since this summer, the United States government allows people to apply for a humanitarian visa through an application called CBP One, run by the Customs and Border Protection office. Migrants must wait in Mexican territory for an appointment at one of the eight border ports. However, as asylum applications have increased, waiting times have become longer, at least seven or eight months. The desperation of an appointment that does not come, the threat of organized crime and the possibility of being kidnapped, extorted or worse, have caused thousands of people to set out on their own. More and more migrants are joining the caravans, while the shelters in Tapachula are at maximum capacity, as is the case of the Belén shelter, with a maximum of 150 places, and more than 270 people housed. “Migrants have not stopped arriving, but with the application more people began to enter,” said its director to this newspaper, the priest César Augusto Cañaveral.
The caravans have the idea of continuing on foot to the north, but most of the time they run up against the immigration policy of Mexico that seeks at all costs to discourage their attempt to reach the border with the United States. “The authorities try to tire them out and disorient them so that they give up, but they will continue forward, even if it costs them their lives,” explained the director of the Belén shelter.
Tapachula has become a reflection of what happens in other parts of Chiapas. The territorial dispute between criminal groups has reached the border city. Murders, extortions and kidnappings are the order of the day and human trafficking has become one of the most lucrative businesses for drug traffickers. The greater flow of people due to the arrival of Donald Trump has led them to raise rates by 50%. Criminals demand 200 dollars from each kidnapped migrant to be released, when just a month ago they charged 100 dollars per person.
Many of the people who begin the journey end up abandoning it due to fatigue, illness or lack of resources. Humanitarian organizations try to help with whatever they may need. “In the last month we have treated more than 3,000 people with our hydration points, medical consultations and information on health and prevention,” says Enrique López, coordinator of Doctors of the World in Tapachula.
Injuries, dehydration, lung diseases… only the strongest can resist. This is the case of José Luis, Yureni and little Thiago, five years old. A family from Colombia that arrived in Mexico City a month ago and is trying to join another caravan to continue north. “They have told us that December 18th is Migrant Day and that we can turn ourselves in at the border to the American authorities,” says the 27-year-old man. These days they sell chocolates and camp in a park behind the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, waiting for a group of about 30 people to board the dangerous freight train known as La Bestia. Their intention, like that of thousands in their situation, is to get to the border as soon as possible. “We want to get there before Trump becomes president because, look, he is a guy who is against us, but we could no longer continue living in Colombia because they threatened to kill us and we had to leave,” says José Luis.
Migrant caravan outside Tapachula on Wednesday. Photo Edgar H. Clemente (AP)
This summer, the National Institute of Migration (INM) assured that it would offer transportation and a safe corridor to the northern border to those who had a confirmed appointment in the United States. Three months later, however, these transfers from the south of the country are few and confusing for the majority. “Many people do not see progress in the application as they would like and there is not as much clarity on how they can make the transfers of the Government program, that is why people want to move together,” says a source close to the caravans who prefers not to give his name for security reasons.
The INM offers people with an appointment a 20-day permit to move safely through the country, however, the majority still have to pay for their trip of more than 3,000 kilometers to the northern border. Those who can, buy a bus ticket; those who cannot, have to get on the train. Many of them die on the way or are exposed to being kidnapped by drug traffickers. They flee from violence, poverty and the effects of climate change in their countries of origin. Most of them come from Venezuela, Ecuador and Honduras, although there are also people from Guatemala, Colombia, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Haiti.
“Under these conditions, children are more exposed and vulnerable to health problems due to heatstroke, dehydration, anxiety and stress, without any possibility of receiving any health or education services,” says Ivonne Piedras, director of Communications and Campaigns for Save the Children Mexico. “If there are large caravans, the risk of sexual abuse also increases,” adds the specialist. So far this year, the irregular entry of people into Mexico has doubled, compared to the same period last year. More than 925,000 migrants crossed the borders from January to August, according to official figures. Of the total, more than 108,000 were children and adolescents. Humanitarian organizations are preparing for the number of migrants to continue to increase in the coming months. They all want to arrive — or at least try to — before Donald Trump closes the border further.
Original article by Almudena Barrugán, El País, November 11th, 2024.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.