Around 5,000 migrants from Central America, Venezuela, Cuba, and Haiti began a journey on foot from Mexico’s southern border on Monday, heading north towards the United States. The migrants expressed frustration with the lengthy process of obtaining refugee or exit visas at Mexico’s main migrant processing center in Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border. Due to the overwhelmed migration system in Mexico, individuals seeking visas often endure weeks or months of waiting without being able to work.
The migrants formed a lengthy line along the highway on Monday, occasionally accompanied by police. While the police are typically present to prevent the migrants from blocking the entire highway, they also discourage them from hitching rides. This march marked one of the largest since June 2022. Previous migrant caravans in 2018 and 2019 garnered significantly more attention. However, with the recent arrival of up to 10,000 migrants at the US border, Monday’s march is now just a small fraction of the overall influx.
Daniel González from Venezuela, who has been traveling for around three months, stated, “In Tapachula, nobody helps us. We’re going to keep on going.” Returning to Venezuela is not an option for him due to the worsening economic situation in his home country. In the past, Mexico’s approach was primarily to wait for the marchers to tire out and then offer them rides back to their home countries or to smaller processing centers. Irineo Mújica, one of the march organizers, demanded transit visas that would enable the migrants to cross Mexico and reach the US border. Mújica emphasized that the aim of these actions is to save lives and criticized authorities for neglecting the migrants and leaving them stranded in squalid conditions on the streets of Tapachula.
The situation faced by 45-year-old Honduran migrant Leonel Olveras reflects the plight of many marchers. Olveras complained about the lack of documentation being provided in Tapachula, stating, “They ask us to wait for months. It’s too long.” The US southwestern border has struggled to handle the increasing number of migrants from South America, who swiftly pass through the treacherous Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama before heading north. Panamanian figures revealed that by September, 420,000 migrants, facilitated by Colombian smugglers, had crossed the gap in the year-to-date.
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