Thousands of migrants are rushing to travel to the southern border before President-elect Donald Trump, according to multiple reports.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to close the border and begin mass deportations of illegal immigrants to fix the migrant crisis that began under President Joe Biden.
One migrant from Honduras told CNN that she and others have been hurrying to make it to the border before the inauguration on January 20. She said they were told “that when Trump starts, he won’t let us in.”
An individual from Venezuela echoed these concerns, telling the news outlet that he “heard Trump is closing the border on day one and will carry out deportations. It worries me, but I am more afraid to stay in my country; I hope I make it in time.”
There are plenty of reasons to be concerned based on Trump's statements on the campaign trail and after being reelected. During a speech at Turning Point USA’s recent event in Phoenix, Arizona, he vowed: “On my first day back in the Oval Office, I will sign a historic slate of executive orders to close our border to illegal aliens and stop the invasion of our country.”
A beautiful morning in Phoenix, Arizona at @TPUSA #AMFEST2024. THANK YOU! pic.twitter.com/bMGsEBQGvl
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2024
Trump has gone so far as to threaten to impose a 25 percent tariff on all products coming from Mexico if they do not do their part to curb illegal immigration into the United States.
In November, soon after Trump threatened to slap a 25% tariff on all products from Mexico if it didn’t act on illegal immigration and cross-border drug crime, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested her country was already doing enough by “assisting” migrant caravans within its borders.
“They are assisted along the way, they are guided, they are even given the possibility of having work on the way,” Sheinbaum said on January 3, adding that many migrants decide to return to their countries of origin “as they are walking.”
This is not a recent phenomenon. In fact, the rush to the southern border began shortly after Trump won the 2024 election. A caravan of more than 1,000 migrants began the trek from Mexico to the United States in November, according to The New York Post.
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 promised to close the border and launch the largest deportation operation in the history of the US.
The Biden administration has faced constant criticism over its inability, or unwillingness, to confront the situation at the southern border. Shortly after taking office, Biden reversed most of Trump’s immigration policies and returned to using the “catch-and-release” policy in which asylum seekers and illegal immigrants are allowed to reside in the country while their cases are being adjudicated.
Trump has vowed to return America’s immigration policy to what it was during his first term.