U.S. authorities say the situation at the southern border is at a "breaking point," as a caravan of thousands of migrants is moving through southern Mexico.
Over the holiday weekend, the migrants from Central America, Venezuela, Cuba, and other countries went past Mexico's main inland immigration checkpoint near the town of Huixtla in southern Chiapas.
Despite being the largest caravan in over a year, with over 6,000 members, as it travels through various cities in Mexico aiming for the U.S. border, National Guard officers at checkpoints are not making any effort to intervene. Their strategy is to let the migrants continue in the hope that they might tire out before reaching the U.S.
In Texas, hundreds of migrants from the Eagle Pass area are transported daily to neighboring border towns. Officials say tens of thousands of immigrants have arrived in Eagle Pass over the past few weeks, but shelters and help centers are now overcrowded.
Texas begins flying migrants from southern border to Chicago
The White House criticized the first flight, which carried over 120 people, accusing the Texas governor of using migrants for politics.
Customs and Border Protection says it is ramping up efforts to address the latest surge, including resource allocation.
The news of the caravan comes as senior U.S. officials are expected to meet with Mexico's president in Mexico City on Wednesday. The migrant surge, as well as the treatment of migrants in the U.S., will be at the top of the agenda.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he is meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall.
This month, as many as 10,000 migrants were arrested each day at the southern border, and on Friday, Lopez Obrador said he's willing to work with the U.S. but asked the Biden administration for more help for migrants' home countries and less or no sanctions on Cuba and Venezuela.
In the first 11 months of 2023, Mexico reported detecting a total of 680,000 migrants moving through the country.
Additional reporting by The Associated Press.
