Migrant caravan heads for U.S. border on eve of Summit of the Americas

A group of several thousand migrants, mostly from Venezuela, left southern Mexico for the U.S. border Monday morning, timing the trip to coincide with the Summit of the Americas. The summit opens in Los Angeles this week. Activists believe the group could be one of the largest migrant caravans in years.

Eyewitnesses reported that at least 6,000 people left the border town of Tapachula. Mexico’s National Institute of Migration has not reported its estimate of the group’s size or provided further comment on the caravan.

Caravan organizer Luis García Villagran said the group includes citizens of several countries, including those from Venezuela, fleeing hardship at home.

“These are countries that are being destroyed by poverty and violence. We urge the summit participants, to look at what is happening and what may be happening even more in Mexico if nothing is done soon,” Luis Garcia Villagran said.

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to announce a regional pact on migration later this week.

The migrants, many of them children, set out in the rain and scattered across several lanes of highway. Some wore plastic raincoats and held umbrellas. There were also large caravans passing through Mexico in 2018-2019 that were headed to the United States. They mostly consisted of Central Americans. In recent years, smaller groups have followed them. A record number of migrants tried to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally last year.

Robinson Reyes, a 35-year-old migrant from Colombia, said he hoped the group could get the attention of summit leaders.

“We want a future for our children. We want to go through Mexico without any problems,” he said. – God willing, they will be able to discuss and solve this problem.”