A video shows thousands of migrants joining a caravan of people in Mexico as pressure on the Biden administration over the issue continues.
The footage, reported by Mexican news channel Fuerza Informativa Azteca, shows a group of people numbering an estimated 6,000 to 7,000, mainly from countries in South and Central America, heading north across Mexico in the direction of the U.S. border.
A banner held by some members of the caravan read: “Exodus from poverty” and further reports from local media said some were from India and Bangladesh. The group set off from Tapachula, near Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala, on Christmas Eve, the news channel said.
It comes amid a surge in official encounters with migrants on the U.S. southern border, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and as Republicans seek to make border security and migration a central issue in the 2024 election.
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The statistics say there were over 2.475 million encounters in the fiscal year 2023, up from 2.378 million the year before. The data includes expulsions and apprehensions.
The video emerged ahead of a key meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to discuss the border issue on December 27.
President Joe Biden is facing pressure on the border issue and a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll published earlier this month said just 38 percent of Americans “strongly approve” or “somewhat approve” of his handing of immigration.
It is a significant problem for Biden’s standing in the polls going into his attempt to win re-election in 2024. A Gallup December poll has his approval rating at just 39 percent.
The White House has even faced comments of concern from key Democrats. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs said her state “needed resources and manpower to reopen the Lukeville crossing” during a closure. Hobbs sent members of the National Guard to the crossing to assist local law enforcement.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection closed the crossing because of “increased levels of migrant encounters at the Southwest Border, fueled by smugglers peddling disinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals.”
Further closures have also be criticized. Two rail bridges in Texas were shut in December due to reports of an increase in migrants smuggled across the border by train.
“Roughly 45% of all rail cars moving to and from Mexico cross through El Paso and Eagle Pass—there isn’t enough capacity at the other four gateways to reroute them,” railroad franchise Union Pacific complained on X, formerly Twitter.
The crossings were reopened on December 22.
Newsweek has approached the White House for comment.
Officials said the bridges were closed “in order to redirect personnel to assist the U.S. Border Patrol with taking migrants into custody.”
On December 4, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said it was the fault of Congress that the border issue had not been sufficiently dealt with.
“Congress has failed to act. They have failed to act. And what they continue to do is behave in—is behave as if, you know, the security of our border—as if it’s political football. That’s what they have done.”
So far, a $110.5 billion foreign-aid bill that contained a $14 billion request to Congress for funding to address border security has not been passed and negotiations continue.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
