New caravan of at least 1,500 migrants rushing to southern border before Trump takes office

A new caravan of at least 1,500 migrants formed in southern Mexico on Wednesday — with some openly admitting they were desperate to cross into the US before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

The migrants — mainly from Central and South America and including large numbers of young children — began marching from the city of Tapachula near the Guatemalan border, where thousands of migrants have been stranded after being stopped by Mexican authorities from going farther.

Many say they felt the clock ticking ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, after which he promises to close the border and launch the largest deportation operation in the history of the US.

“It is going to be more difficult, that’s why we are going in hopes of getting an appointment quicker so we are able to cross before he (Trump) takes office,” said Yotzeli Peña, 23, one of many migrants from Venezuela in the caravan. “That would be easier.”

The migrants have been largely unable to support themselves in Tapachula, a city of about 350,000, and have decided to risk the nearly 1,100-mile trek through nearly the entirety of Mexico to reach the nearest crossing at Matamoros, across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas.

The journey would take an estimated 16 days without stopping — and much of the caravan consists of children.

Such caravans started forming in 2018, mostly with poorer migrants unable to pay the exorbitant human smuggling fees.

Those attempting to cross Mexico alone or in small groups are often taken into custody and sent back to southern Mexico or deported to their home countries. However, the caravans made it harder for Mexican officials to round up hundreds of people at once.

Still, drug cartels in Mexico have become heavily involved in migrant trafficking, often threatening the migrants and extorting payments for permission to pass through their turf.

The gangs are also known to kidnap migrants, holding them in deplorable conditions or torturing them until they contact relatives to send money for their release. 

Most dangerously, the migrants have to reckon with sweltering heat, dehydration and fatigue before they have any hopes of reaching the US.

With Post wires