2,000-strong migrant caravan aims to cross US border ahead of potential Trump reelection
A massive migrant caravan of around 2,000 people is racing to get to the U.S. before the next president enters the White House in case former President Donald Trump is reelected.
The migrant caravan, named “God Guides Us,” consists of people from various countries, including Venezuela, Colombia, Afghanistan, Haiti and Nepal, according to News Nation. The group's departure is expected to divide into smaller groups once they reach Mexico City, the outlet added.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Joel Zambrano, a Venezuelan migrant, told the wire service that he believes a new presidential administration would stop allowing migrants to make asylum appointments through the CBP One Application. Through CBP One, certain people can submit their information to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and make an appointment for processing at ports of entry.
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“That is what makes us fearful. They say this could change because they could both close the CBP One appointment and all the services that are helping migrants,” Zambrano said.
According to the AP, a third group of migrants who departed southern Mexico on Sunday was the largest seen since the start of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration.
Republicans on the House Committee on Homeland Security, led by Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., have blamed the Biden-Harris administration’s border policies for incentivizing migrants to enter the U.S. illegally.
“Illegal border crossers know that their best chance of getting into the U.S. is under the Biden-Harris administration,” Republican members of the committee wrote in a post on X Monday, citing a News Nation report on the migrant caravan. “That's why thousands of them are flocking to our border in a new caravan now.”
Throughout this election cycle, former President Donald Trump has vowed to tackle the illegal immigration crisis, blaming the Biden-Harris administration for allowing illegal migrants with criminal records, including rape and murder, into the country.
Vice President Harris has repeatedly faced questions about her previous views on illegal immigration and the Biden-Harris administration’s approach to border security. On her campaign website, Harris promises “tough, smart solutions” to secure the border and fix the country’s “broken immigration system.”
Fox News anchor Brett Baier questioned the Democratic presidential nominee about her previous views on immigration during an interview last week. During that interview, Harris suggested that she no longer supports decriminalizing border crossings, a position she once held in 2019.
Baier asked about the Biden-Harris administration’s decision to rescind Trump-era policies, including the Remain-in-Mexico policy for asylum seekers. During another interview this month on CBS News' "60 Minutes,” reporter Bill Whitaker also asked the vice president about the record high of migrants illegally crossing the border under the Biden-Harris administration.
Both times, Harris blamed Trump for instructing his supporters in Congress not to back a border security bill that she claimed could have helped resolve the border crisis. As Baier noted during his interview with Harris, six Democrat senators also voted against the bill.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Harris’ campaign office did not respond to The Christian Post’s requests for comment.
In a statement Tuesday, Green, who chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security, claimed that despite the Biden-Harris administration’s claims, this fiscal year was “the second-worst year in terms of inadmissible alien encounters ever — only surpassed by the all-time record Biden and Harris set just last fiscal year.”
“Every day, Americans are experiencing the consequences of the unchecked flow of inadmissible aliens into their communities,” Green stated. “There are countless examples of those aliens going on to commit crimes against innocent Americans, and many of them create financial burdens for state and local governments who are already struggling to provide resources to their citizens.”
“We simply cannot go on like this as a country,” he added. “These open-borders policies have devastated our safety, security, and sovereignty. It’s time to return to policies that secured our border and our nation.”
According to CBP data updated Tuesday, the agency encountered over 100,000 migrants at the southwest border last month.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
