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Migrant caravan in Mexico heads for US border as Americas Summit starts

Tapachula, Mexico
Reuters

Several thousand migrants, many from Venezuela, set off from southern Mexico early Monday aiming to reach the United States, timing their journey to coincide with the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles this week.

Migration activists said the group could be one of the region’s largest migrant caravans in recent years. 

Mexico Tapachula migrant caravan

Migrants walk in a caravan to cross the country to reach the US border, as regional leaders gather in Los Angeles to discuss migration and other issues, in Tapachula, Mexico, on 6th June. PICTURE: Reuters/Quetzalli Nicte-Ha

At least 6,000 people, according to Reuters witnesses, left the border city of Tapachula. Mexico’s National Institute for Migration did not provide an estimate of the group’s size and provided no additional comment on the caravan. 

Caravan organiser Luis Garcia Villagran said the group represented various nationalities of people fleeing hardship in their home countries, including many from Venezuela. 

“These are countries collapsing from poverty and violence,” he said. “We strongly urge those who attend the summit…to look at what is happening, and what could happen even more often in Mexico, if something is not done soon.”

US President Joe Biden is expected to announce a regional pact on migration later in the week.



The migrants, including many children, began their trip early under rainfall and fanned out across several lanes of highway, with some wearing plastic ponchos and holding umbrellas, Reuters images show.

Large caravans headed to the United States also traveled across Mexico in 2018 and 2019, mostly comprised of Central Americans, followed by smaller groups in recent years. 

Mexico Tapachula migrant caravan2

A migrant in a wheelchair holds a ball as he is pushed by a fellow migrant, during a caravan to cross the country to reach the US border, as regional leaders gather in Los Angeles to discuss migration and other issues, in Tapachula, Mexico, on 6th June. PICTURE: Reuters/Quetzalli Nicte-Ha

Record numbers of migrants last year attempted to cross the US-Mexico border illegally.

Colombian migrant Robinson Reyes, 35, said he hoped the group would attract the attention of leaders at the summit. 

“We want a future for our children…we want to cross Mexico without any problems,” he said. “God willing, they can talk and resolve this.”

 

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