While U.S. border officials are still trying to deal with and recover from a massive illegal immigrant surge in Texas, where over 10,000 mostly Haitians descended upon the nation, now thousands more are headed this way again, only this time it’s a much more organized caravan. The flood of migrants is on its way from southern Mexico and has already overpowered and broken through Mexican forces who were attempting a barricade to prevent them from leaving.
According to Fox News, there are more than 4,000 people in the caravan which began the march from Tapachula, Mexico. Some are carrying American flags and others hold signs with President Joe Biden’s name on them. Organizers have created a QR code so that those who wish to participate can join using their phones or a website link. The group is using a rope to stay together so that “no one falls behind,” according to journalist Ali Bradley.
In a recent interview, the leader of the caravan, Irineo Mujica, said the reason so many are migrating is because of “ineptitude” in the Biden administration in terms of immigration policies:
“If I tell you the truth … at least with Donald Trump we knew what we had. With Biden, we don’t know. He doesn’t seem to have a clue what to do with immigration because he says one thing and does another. Tell me something different that Joe Biden has done? He promised immigration reform. He hasn’t done it.”
Earlier this week, Biden was asked why he had not visited the border during such a crisis. He claimed to have “been there before” and said, “I guess I should go down.” However, his visit to the area was back in 2008 while on the campaign trail.
Rather Remain in Mexico?
(Photo by Nick Kaiser/picture alliance via Getty Images)
According to reports, the migrants intend to ask for refugee status from officials in Mexico City first. If that doesn’t work, they plan to head to the U.S. border. To stay in Mexico, migrants have to gain permission from the National Institute for Migration and show that they can stay in the country as refugees – or they risk being deported.
Mexico’s Commission for Refugee Assistance expects a “record of more than 100,000 applications this year, up from a previous peak of 70,000 in 2019.” A Sept. 21 report from Reuters noted: “A spokesperson said the delays were because high demand had overwhelmed capacity.”
The Biden administration’s immigration reform is based on “root causes” which it says stem from poor economic conditions in other countries. Mujica disagreed, saying “Money is not going to solve the problem."
In an interview with Fox News' Griff Jenkins, Mujica said Mexican government policies are a big factor in the decision to head to the U.S. and that many of the migrants would rather not leave home:
“What Mexico should do like every country is to make sure they do their share … Money is not going to solve the problem. Money thrown into governments like Mexico … they [migrants] should be given papers here, the opportunity to work here, because a lot of them don’t want to go to the U.S. Because Mexico, it’s a good place to live and to work.
"Because a lot of them don't want to go to the U.S., but the Biden administration, with this administration, it's like pulling them like cattle.”
On Friday, Oct. 22, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said there had been more than 1.7 million migrant encounters for the Fiscal Year 2021. There were more than 192,000 encounters just in September.
~ Read more from Kelli Ballard.
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