US-Mexico border crisis: Over 2,000 migrants march towards USA from Tapachula

More than 2,000 immigrants, mostly of Central American origin, on October 23, started marching towards US-Mexico border from a city in sourn Mexico, where y h been effectively trapped, news agency AP reported.  migrants proceeded west and north along a highway going towards United States border.

During state police's attempts to prevent group from moving forward, a minor dispute occurred injuring a little child. However, despite that,  migrants proceeded on ir journey.

Meanwhile, migrants barely reached Alvaro Obregon, a neighbouring community, before halting for night at a baseball field.  Associated Press quoted a Honduran migrant, José Antonio, who refused to provide his last name in fear of jeopardising his case, as saying that he h been waiting in Tapachula for nearly two months for a response to his visa request application.

Antonio, who is a construction worker, said, “y told me I h to wait because appointments were full. re is no work re (in Tapachula), so out of necessity I joined this group.” He ded that he expects to find a job in norrn city of Monterrey. 

Migrants frustrated after waiting for two months at Tapachula

Smaller efforts at identical breakouts of migrants were prevented earlier this year by police, immigration authorities, as well as National Guard. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Honduras, El Salvor, and Haiti have been waiting at Tapachula, a sourn city in Mexico, for refugee or immigration documents that would permit m to travel, but have now grown frustrated with lengthy procedure, AP reported. 

Notably, march which began on Saturday in Tapachula is quite different from earlier marches as it does not feature as many Haitian migrants, who flocked to US in large numbers in September near Del Rio, Texas. Over hundreds of Haitians, Cubans, and Central Americans started walking down a roway from Tapachula in August but were stopped by National Guard forces in riot gear, AP reported. Mexico demands that those migrants who are seeking humanitarian visas or asylum must wait for ir claims to be processed in border state of Chiapas, bordering Guatemala.

Arrests along USA's sourn border reaches all-time high 

It should be mentioned here that detention and arrests along sourn border of USA reached an all-time high in 2021, according to US Customs and Border Protection. 

US Customs and Border Protection data states that almost 1.7 million immigrants were held at border in last year, largest number in any fiscal year in history. numbers have risen dramatically in recent months, following a large increase in migration to US-Mexico border, which peaked in summer. 

According to official records, around 61% of migrants detected in last year were deported to Mexico or ir native countries. This has been conducted under Title 42 public health policy, which entails fast expulsions rar than deportations, which means that US authorities do not keep track of people who are sent back. Separately, according to report, during fiscal year 2021, a total number of 671,000 migrants and refugees were assessed under immigration rules and put in deportation proceedings.

(With inputs from AP, Image: AP)