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-Editorial
On Sunday, hundreds of migrants from El Salvador, alongside individuals from around a dozen other countries, set out on foot from Ciudad Hidalgo, a southern Mexican town near the Guatemalan border. This group, facing numerous hardships, is heading north in the hope of reaching the U.S. border before the November elections. Some fear that a potential win for Donald Trump could lead to the fulfillment of his campaign promise to close the U.S. border to asylum-seekers.
This latest caravan adds to a series of significant migrant movements through Mexico. Previous caravans in 2023 included groups of 2,000 to 3,000 departing from Tapachula in April and May, with another caravan of 4,000 leaving in October. The “Exodus for Poverty” caravan, which arrived in Chiapas in December 2023, comprised between 8,000 and 10,000 people. By January 2024, nearly 2,000 more had reached Oaxaca.
Starting in June 2022, up to 15,000 migrants, primarily from Central America and Venezuela, began departing from the southern Mexican city of Tapachula in a caravan heading toward the United States. On July 5, a caravan of nearly 7,000 people left Tapachula, but it disbanded in Huixtla after two days. Later, on December 11, 2022, a separate caravan of over 1,000 migrants crossed illegally into El Paso from Ciudad Juarez.
Central American migrant caravans, also known as the Viacrucis del Migrante (“Migrant’s Way of the Cross”), have been organized since 2017, particularly by Pueblo Sin Fronteras. These caravans often include individuals fleeing extreme poverty, violence, and environmental degradation in their home countries.
In April 2022, migrant encounters surged to a record high, with Border Patrol reporting over 224,000 apprehensions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration implemented Title 42 to expel migrants from the U.S. to mitigate public health risks. By late 2022, a large camp of migrants had formed on the Mexican side of the border, awaiting the lifting of Title 42, with conditions described as “dire.” Unlike previous years, there has been a notable increase in the proportion of migrants arriving at the Mexico–U.S. border who are children, the majority of whom are unaccompanied.
While there is debate over whether these caravans primarily consist of refugees or economic migrants, the driving forces behind these movements are clear. Reports highlight severe issues in Central America, including high violence rates, poverty, and environmental crises such as drought and crop failures. Honduras, in particular, has faced immense challenges, contributing significantly to the migration patterns seen today. As migrants continue their journey, the debate over how best to address these complex issues remains ongoing in the U.S. and beyond.
