Migrant caravan, a strong splinter group of 6,000 people, as it makes its way through Mexico: Those who begin arriving at the US border are bused north to Democrat-run cities
A migrant caravan 6,000 strong made its way north through Mexico on Friday, as a first wave of 1,300 people arrived in the Texas city of El Paso – many immediately bused north to Democratic-run cities.
Dramatic images shared on social media showed migrants walking through the Mexican state of Chihuahua on their way to the border. Others were seen clinging to the top of ‘La Bestia’ – the freight train known as The Beast that travels from Mexico City to Ciudad Juarez, the border city with El Paso.
The migrants have been heading towards the international border in recent days.
After filtering into Ciudad Juarez, almost all will try to enter the US
Migrants are seen walking towards the US-Mexico border south of Ciudad Juarez on Friday
Migrants in El Paso are seen boarding buses north, away from Texas, on Friday
Migrants are seen lining up through the border fence to enter
Some could remain in Juarez and try to make an appointment with U.S. immigration officials through the CBP One app. The app is the legal way for asylum seekers to start the asylum process in the US
Many migrants opted to try out the app, but then decided to cross the border illegally and turn themselves over to U.S. border officials after failing to secure an appointment.
The CBP One app is riddled with problems, and while some issues have been addressed, U.S. officials have admitted that there simply aren’t enough appointments for the number of people requesting them.
On Friday in El Paso, hundreds of migrants showed up at the border wall at an opening in gate number 36.
They waited in line for most of the day until Border Patrol buses arrived early in the evening to take them to a processing center.
The migrant bus is seen leaving the border processing center on Friday
Lines of migrants wait Friday to board buses from the processing center near El Paso
Migrants are seen boarding the bus to leave the site in Texas on Friday
El Paso, which was the epicenter of the border crisis for much of last year, has three larger processing centers built over the past 12 months specifically to handle the flow of migrants at the border.
Although the city encounters about 1,000 migrants a day — far fewer than the current hotspots of Lukeville, Arizona, or Eagle Pass, Texas, where 10 times that number cross the border — officials here have the ability to quickly scale up their response if that number is peaking.
On Friday, officials prepared for the imminent arrival of the rest of the migrant caravan.
The group will likely break up before reaching the border, with people attempting to cross at various points along the border.
Border Patrol agents from quieter parts of the border have already been deployed to El Paso, federal sources told DailyMail.com.
City officials have also opened a migrant shelter that could house hundreds of people if necessary.
As night fell in the West Texas desert, migrants on the other side of the border, waiting for their chance to surrender to Border Patrol, built fires for warmth.
The flames could be seen from the U.S. side of the border wall.
Migrants traveling in a caravan to reach the U.S. border through Mexico bathe in a river in Mapastepec, Mexico, on Friday
The migrants are seen in Mapastepec, Mexico on Friday
Large numbers of families with young children are in the caravan currently moving north through Mexico
The migrants’ tent camp was pictured Friday in Mapastepec, Mexico
The migrant caravan, seen on Friday, is currently estimated at 6,000 people but will splinter as it moves north
Migrants rest in the public square in Mapastepec, Mexico on Friday
Earlier this week, a US delegation led by Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, met with the Mexican president, seeking more action to curb a wave of migrants reaching the US border.
The United States has sent clear signals, including temporarily closing key crossings into Texas, that it wants Mexico to do more to prevent migrants from jumping to the border on freight cars, buses and trucks.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he received a concerned call from President Joe Biden on December 20.
“He asked, Joe Biden asked to speak to me, he was concerned about the situation at the border because of the unprecedented number of migrants arriving at the border,” López Obrador said Thursday.
“He called me and said we had to find a solution together.”
Mexico, desperate to reopen border crossings for its manufactured goods, began giving indications that it might step in a bit.
A Border Patrol agent is seen walking past migrants in El Paso on Friday, waiting to be processed
Migrants wrapped in blankets are pictured at the border crossing in El Paso on Friday
The group is waiting to enter Texas on Friday
Razor wire can be seen along the border, with the fence in the background
López Obrador said Thursday that Mexico detained more migrants than the United States in the week leading up to Christmas, with Mexican detentions rising from about 8,000 per day on Dec. 16 to about 9,500 on Christmas Day.
Mexico already has more than 32,000 soldiers and National Guard troops — about 11 percent of the total force — tasked with enforcing immigration laws.
But the shortcomings were exposed this week when National Guard members made no attempt to stop about 6,000 migrants, many from Central America and Venezuela, from passing through Mexico’s main immigration inspection point in southern Chiapas state, near the border with Guatemala, to walk.
In the past, Mexico has allowed such migrant caravans through, confident they would tire themselves walking along the highway.