More than 3,000 Mexican migrants marched towards America on Election Day as after Donald Trump vowed to carry out the ‘largest deportation operation in American history’.
Men, women and children were seen marching towards the southern US border Tuesday carrying banners that read ‘no more migrant blood’ and images of the Virgin of Guadalupe, an important religious and cultural symbol in Mexico, as Americans headed to their local polling stations.
US Border Patrol was aware the election could trigger mass migrations of asylum seekers, according to sources who told The New York Post that the migrants want to arrive in the country as ‘one last f*** you to America’ before Trump takes office.
Trump, 78, made immigration a top issue throughout his campaign, promising mass deportations, the end to birthright citizenship and an expansion of a travel ban on people from certain countries.
During his speech at his election watch party early Wednesday morning the president-elect vowed to ‘seal up those borders’, adding: ‘We want people to come back in, but they have to come back in legally.’
More than 3,000 Mexican migrants marched towards America on Election Day
A migrant coordinates the advance of a caravan, in Tapachula, Mexico, on November 5, 2024
The large caravan gathered in Tapachula, the capital of the southern Chiapas state, before heading northward Tuesday on the 2,000-mile journey to America
Two caravans of asylum seekers left from the southern Chiapas state, which borders Guatemala, on Tuesday to embark on the 2,000-mile journey to America.
The first caravan left from Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital city of Chiapas. The second gathered in Tapachula, a small municipality that sits at the edge of the state and is a main point of entry for migrants south of the Mexican border, before heading northward.
The groups are headed Mexico City in hopes of reaching the US border wall.
Immigration officials are anticipating a surge of migrant crossings as President Joe Biden’s term nears its end.
‘We knew that was coming because they want to get in before ‘orange bad man’ wins,’ a Border Patrol source, seemingly unsurprised by the caravan, told the newspaper.
Another added: ‘If Trump wins, they are gonna try to get here before he’s in office. It’s one last f*** you to America.’
In recent years, several caravans with people hoping to enter the United States have attempted to reach the US-Mexican border, traveling in mass groups for safety. Most have dispersed along the way.
Men, women and children were seen marching towards the southern US border Tuesday carrying banners that read ‘no more migrant blood’ and images of the Virgin of Guadalupe, an important religious and cultural symbol in Mexico
Two migrant caravans with hundreds of Latin American asylum seekers left Tuesday from the Chiapas border state with Guatemala and are headed to Mexico City in their journey to reach the US border wall
Migrants walk in a caravan during the US Election Day in an attempt to reach Mexico’s northern border
The first caravan left from Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital city of Chiapas, while a second is departing from Tapachula, a small municipality that sits at the edge of the state, a main point of entry for migrants south of the Mexican border
A man carries a migrant woman who fainted due to heat stroke while walking to the United States in a caravan along a highway in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas State, Mexico, on Tuesday
A man carries a woman while walking in a caravan along a highway in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas State, Mexico on Tuesday
Migrants and representatives of the state government stand next to a woman who fainted due to heat stroke while walking to the United States in a caravan along a highway in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas State, Mexico, on November 5, 2024
Migrants coordinates advance in a caravan heading to the United States, in Tapachula, Mexico, on November 5, 2024
Honduran migrant Roy Murillo, who joined the caravan with his two children and his pregnant wife, said he and his family are seeking asylum in America to escape crime in his homeland.
‘I’m afraid to travel alone with my family. Here, the cartels either kidnap you or kill you. … That’s why we’re coming in the caravan,’ Murillo said.
Murillo recounted his unsuccessful attempts to secure an asylum appointment through a mobile app developed by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency.
‘We want US authorities to see us, to see that we are people who want to work, not to harm anyone,’ he added.
Venezuelan migrant Thais, who spoke on condition that her surname not be used due to safety concerns, joined the caravan with her husband and 3-year-old daughter.
‘I feel suffocated here. That’s why we decided to leave,’ she said.
‘I wish Mr. Trump…would see that we are human beings, that we want to live and support our families,’ the 28-year-old mother added.
Tapachula, a mandatory crossing point for tens of thousands of migrants, has become one of Mexico’s most violent cities in recent months, with migrants frequently targeted by organized crime, according to official data.
Migrants traveling in a caravan take a break in Alvaro Obregon, Mexico while they attempt to reach the US southern border on Election Day
A migrant carrying a long object marches with a caravan as it heads to the US southern border
Migrants walk a banner which reads ‘No more migrant blood’ as they walk in a caravan on Tuesday as America casts its vote for the next president
Migrants leave in a caravan to the US, in the municipality of Tapachula, in the state of Chiapas, Mexico on Tuesday to coincide with the American Presidential elections, conscious that US immigration policies would be further tightened after the elections
A member of the National Guard stands guard as migrants walk in caravan through a checkpoint in Viva, Mexico on Tuesday
A Venezuelan migrant helps a female migrant prepare for the 2,000-mile walk to the southern US border on Tuesday
Since Biden took office, the CBP has encountered roughly 8.5 million migrants seeking asylum or illegally crossing the southern border into the US.
Trump made migration and illegal immigration a centerpiece of his campaign ever since he first ran for president in 2016, though critics say he made limited progress addressing the concern during his time in office.
Last month the CBP reported the lowest numbers or border crossers since 2020 with just 54,000 apprehensions in September.
As Trump campaigned for the Oval Office he called the border the ‘biggest problem’ and vowed to stage the ‘largest deportation operation in American history’.
He pledged to expel ‘maybe as many as 20 million’ people from the US and also took aim at the Biden administration, falsely claiming the Democrats were flying ‘big, beautiful Boeing jets right over the border with hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants’.
A migrant father transports his children on a bicycle as they advance in a caravan heading to the United States in Tapachula, Mexico, on November 5, 2024
A migrant carries a religious statuette on his way to the United States in Tapachula, Mexico, on November 5, 2024
: A migrant child sleeps on backpacks after advancing in a caravan towards the US
Migrants traveling in a caravan take a break while they attempt to reach Mexico’s northern border during the US presidential election
Soldiers patrol the advance of a migrant caravan in Tapachula, Mexico, on November 5, 2024
Hundreds of migrants, mostly Venezuelans, walk in a caravan on US presidential election day in an attempt to reach Mexico’s northern border, on November 5, 2024, in Tapachula, Mexico
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .