Politics

Migrants in Mexico organizing caravans to get to US before Title 42 ends

Tapachula, Mexico, Dec 18 (EFE).- Migrants in southern Mexico are frantically organizing caravans with the aim of trekking to and crossing the US border before Dec. 21, when Title 42 will be brought to an end, the US policy to expel migrants who try to get into the country illegally.

Some of the migrants say they fear that the US border will be closed after Title 42 is suspended.

This is the situation with a large group of migrants stranded in Tapachula, in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, who decided to organize themselves on Sunday and depart for the country’s northern border, where they are hoping to be able to cross into the US with an eye toward improving their economic situation and providing a better future for their families.

The group of migrants of many different nationalities held prayer sessions and are intending to take the direct highway leading to Mexico City, along which hundreds of heavy cargo trucks, public transport vehicles and private automobiles travel every day.

Title 42 is the US policy that allows authorities in Mexico’s northern neighbor to deny entry to people or goods with an eye toward preventing the spread of contagious diseases, and it is used in particular to keep migrants and products from entering the US illegally.

However, the policy is slated to be suspended on Dec. 21.

This new caravan includes mainly women and children, although there are also a number of single men from Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia and various Central American countries.

Ecuadorian migrant Amparo Fernandez emphasized that some of the migrants are in possession of travel documents they obtained in Tapachula, while others are traveling without the appropriate papers.

“We want to get to our destination before Dec. 21 because they’re going to close the US border and we need to get across with our children, who are young. We’re worried because the deadline is approaching and the idea is to be able to get there as quickly as possible,” he said.

Keyson Castillo, a Venezuelan who joined the group of migrants, said that some people in the group are leaving countries in crisis like Ecuador, from where hundreds of people have fled to get to the US to improve their quality of life.

“If we manage to move forward, we’re going to meet up with more migrants who are on the immigration route,” he said.

The migrants who are in this latest contingent of people are moving along the route in the company of two police patrol cars, with the officers recommending that they walk along the edge of the highway to avoid being run over.

Mexican authorities via the National Immigration Institute will mount an operation to ensure the migrants’ safety and prevent them from risking their lives during their northward trek to the US.

More than 200 migrant caravans large and small with members from dozens of countries have left from Tapachula in recent months trying to get to the US border, but most of those people have been turned back by Mexican authorities and returned to the city bordering on Guatemala.

EFE –/bp

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