Migrant caravan heading for the US border grows to 7,000 people

The migrant caravan is made up of people from Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Venezuela.

He said: ”Organised crime is already taking over Chiapas, violence is everywhere. We are trying to save lives with these kinds of actions.”

Many migrants are fleeing economic and political unrest in their home countries. One Venezuelan father told Reuters: “In Venezuela things are very tough, we can’t live with the money we get, it’s not enough for us, and that’s why we’re going to the United States.”

This is the largest march since a migrant caravan bound for the US set off with 6,000 people from the southern border in June 2022.

Since Biden took office in 2021, the US-Mexico border has seen an increase in migrants crossing. In September, Border Patrol apprehended more than 200,000 migrants crossing the US-Mexico border unlawfully according to Homeland Security, making it the highest this year.

The southern border has struggled to cope with the influx of people crossing through the Darien Gap between Columbia and Panama. Colombian smugglers have profited from the route, smuggling in an estimated 420,000 people since September this year according to Panamanian migration officials.

Biden, who has been criticised for his handling of US-Mexico border crossings, is set to host a summit on migration with South American leaders on Friday to discuss how to curb the issue.

* Original Article:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/migrant-caravan-us-border-petrol-b1117759.html