The several thousand migrants traveling in a large group through southern Mexico toward the United States are expected to head to Del Rio, Texas, or Yuma, Arizona, according to two Border Patrol agents who have reviewed government intelligence reports.
The caravan, organized by activist Irineo Mujica, and estimated to be between 2,000 to 3,000 people, left Tapachula, Chiapas, on Saturday arrived at its first major milestone on Monday, just over 40 kilometers north. The group entered the town of Huixtla on Tuesday night in heavy rain where the majority of the travelers stayed in cramped conditions in a public sports field, according to Border Report.
Interestingly, Mexico News Daily is also reporting that the root cause of the caravan cannot be explained by poverty alone. It seems that all of the town’s cheaper motels and hotels were full.
So it is possible that many of the migrants can afford cheap hotels and buy food in local restaurants. It is not clear, however, how many people in the convoy are traveling with no money at all.
While Mujica claims that the majority of the migrants are headed to Mexico City, many more of the travelers tell reporters they are heading to the U.S.
Mexico City is a journey of nearly 800-miles that will take weeks to complete unless the migrants can find transportation. At present, the caravan of people has reportedly traveled 25 miles over the last four days.
“Historically, what we’ve seen is the caravan will get to Mexico City, and then, they’ll start to splinter out, and they’ll go to multiple areas along the southwest border,” Mark Morgan, the former senior official performing the duties of Customs and Border Protection commissioner, said in a phone call.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Monday that the migrants were being lied to. “We will act with prudence, with care for the law and human rights, but we want to say that they are being deceived because it is not true that they are going to let them pass into the United States,” he said.
“They’re saying, ‘let’s go in the caravan. We arrive at the U.S. border and they will let us pass.’ That is not true,” Ebrard said at a news conference in Mexico City. “We saw what happened recently with the Haitians (at Del Rio, Texas). It was the same thing, ‘come over and this time (you’ll pass).’”
Ebrard said Mexican authorities are monitoring the caravan but have decided “to act with prudence” so as to not be accused of using excessive force or violating people’s human rights.
