A migrant caravan of about 2,000 people continues its trek after clashing with police in the southern Mexico city of Tapachula over the weekend — making their way to the southern border, carrying signs with President Biden’s name.
The migrants, mainly from Honduras and El Salvador and with small children in tow, trudged through broiling heat to the town of Huehuetan, about 16 miles north of Tapachula, on Sunday.
They had been waiting for months in Tapachula, near the Guatemala border, for refugee or asylum papers that would allow them to travel through Mexico.
But many grew frustrated by the delays and pushed past law enforcement officers on Saturday, amid scuffles that left a few small children injured.
Mexico requires migrants seeking humanitarian visas or asylum to wait in the border state of Chiapas while their cases are being processed.
“But they took a long time,” Anthony Beltrandez, a furniture restorer, told the Associated Press, noting that he had been waiting in Tapachula for more than a month for his papers.
Beltrandez, who left Cuba in 2018 to travel to Uruguay, said he decided to join the caravan on the more than 1,000-mile journey to the US.
“There has been a lot of heat, a lot of sun,” Beltrandez said of the walk.
José Antonio, a Honduran who declined to give his last name, said he became part of the caravan after cooling his heels in Tapachula for two months.
“They told me I had to wait because the appointments were full,” the construction worker said. “There is no work there (in Tapachula), so out of necessity I joined this group.”
Many of the migrants were carrying American flags or signs with Biden’s name on them.
US Customs and Border Protection detained a record-high 1.7 million illegal immigrants over the previous 12 months, officials said.
Former President Donald Trump on Sunday urged the Biden administration to finish construction of the border wall he started, saying the country is being “poisoned” by the influx of illegal immigrants arriving in the US.
“Our Country is being poisoned with the millions of people that are illegally flowing through our Borders, in most cases not even questioned or stopped. Many are criminals from the emptied prisons of other countries, most of these are very dangerous people,” Trump said in a statement sent by email.
“Our country is dying from within and nobody is doing anything to stop it. The first thing that should be done, and it can be done quickly, is FINISH THE WALL. A deal must be made with Mexico, where Mexico serves as a 2,000-mile barrier, not a launching pad for the illegals that are coming in,” the 45th president said.
With Post wires
