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MigrationUnited States of America

Migrant caravan treks through Mexico en route to US

December 25, 2023

The caravan is believed to be the largest trying to enter the US in over a year. It casts doubt on the effectiveness of Biden's policies to curb migration.

https://p.dw.com/p/4aY7p
Several thousand migrants have formed a caravan in southern Mexico to march north toward the USA on December 24, 2023.
A caravan of some 6,000 migrants stopped in Mexico for Christmas Eve, en route to the USImage: Edgar Hernandez Clemente/AP/dpa/picture alliance

A caravan of thousands of migrants traveled through Mexico en route to the US border on Sunday, stopping in the southern Mexican town of Alvaro Obregon to spend Christmas Eve.

The caravan is estimated to comprise some 6,000 people, including families and young children. It is believed to be the largest since June 2022.

What do we know about the caravan?

The group of migrants mostly hailed from Central American and Caribbean countries. On Sunday, they had walked 15 kilometers (over 9 miles) from Mexico's southern border city of Tapachula. They plan to resume their journey at around 4 a.m. the next day.

"We've been waiting here for three or four months without an answer," Cristian Rivera, one of the travelers, told the Associated Press news agency. "Hopefully with this march there will be a change and we can get the permission we need to head north."

Rivera was traveling alone, having left his wife and child in his native Honduras.

What does this say about Biden's migration policies?

The caravan casts doubts on the effectiveness of US President Joe Biden's migration policies.

Republicans in the US Congress have continued to press Biden's Democrats to introduce major changes to the immigration policy in exchange for approving a package of emergency assistance for Ukraine and Israel.

The Biden administration struck a deal with Mexico in May, where the latter agreed to take in migrants from countries including Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba whom the US turns away for not following migration rules.

Mexico and US to tighten migration controls

rmt/sri (AP, Reuters)