Two Migrant Caravans Could Join Forces To Reach US

Two large migrant caravans could come together on their way to the U.S., according to Reuters.

Hundreds of migrants left southern Mexico on Sunday with hopes of joining another caravan comprised of thousands further north, according to Reuters. Illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border has surged under the Biden administration, which has suggested it’s “stopping the flow.”

The migrants are from Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Venezuela, according to Reuters.

“I think 3.4 months is too long to wait to get a humanitarian visa, to be able to travel through Mexican territory,” Selma Alvarez from Venezuela said, according to Reuters. “Because we are at the mercy of coyotes, of criminals, it is good that we accompany each other in the caravan, it seems safer to me.”

The smaller caravan is trying to use CBP One, a phone application the Biden administration allows migrants to use to book entry appointments at ports along the southern border, Alvarez added, saying the group had become impatient.

Border Patrol recorded more than 2.2 million illegal migrant encounters at the southern border in fiscal year 2022 and more than 2 million in fiscal year 2023, according to federal data. The number of migrants that got into the U.S. after crossing illegally also surpassed the populations of 11 states in fiscal year 2023.

Fiscal year 2024 is already on track to possibly see another record year of illegal immigration, former Chief Patrol Agent of the Yuma sector in Arizona Chris Clem recently told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Preliminary data recently obtained by the DCNF showed that Border Patrol encountered nearly 200,00o migrants crossing illegally nationwide in October.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.