Migrant Caravan Headed North Is Anticipating Democrat Win in Midterms
A migrant caravan of hundreds of people is moving north through southern Mexico toward the U.S. border, five weeks before the November 3 midterm elections. Republican lawmakers say the migrants are betting on a Democratic Congress taking power in November.
The caravan, called “Fe y Esperanza” (Faith and Hope), left San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on September 20. It entered Mexico four days later over the Rodolfo Robles bridge on the Suchiate River in Chiapas. About 200 people crossed without intervention from Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM).
The group reached Tapachula with about 300 people and grew to more than 600 as migrants already in southern Mexico joined, according to EFE. Members come from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador and Haiti.
As of September 29, the caravan was moving along the Chiapas coastal highway and had not yet entered Oaxaca. The planned route runs along the Pacific to central Mexico, then north toward Nuevo León or Tamaulipas. Most members say their goal is to reach Mexico’s northern border and cross into the United States, while some would stay in Mexico if they can get legal status and work.
Migrants interviewed by EFE gave personal reasons for joining. José Zelaya, from San Pedro Sula, told EFE he left with seven family members and wants to reach the United States to send money home. He said the group has no leaders beyond hunger and necessity.
Vinicio Obonaga, from Ecuador, said he joined in Tapachula after two months without a response to his refugee and humanitarian visa applications. A Guatemalan woman said she first planned to go to central Mexico, but switched to the United States after an attempted kidnapping.
Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina wrote on X that the migrants are “betting on a Democrat Congress in November.” The Post Millennial reported the caravan was heading north in anticipation of Democrats’ open-border policies. Migrants in an earlier caravan made the same link.
On August 19, Real America’s Voice correspondent Oscar Ramirez posted video of migrants in Tapachula who said they were waiting for Democrats to win control of Congress. One man said they were forming a caravan of 2,000 to 2,500 people to leave on August 20.
That caravan, “Sueños sin Fronteras,” left Tapachula on August 20 with just over 600 people, headed for Mexico City. AP reported on a Venezuelan family in the group that planned to stay in Mexico until President Donald Trump’s term ends, then decide whether to return to the United States.
Cuban migrants told EFE they wanted to wait for the end of the Trump administration before going to the United States. The caravan broke up in Arriaga, Chiapas, in early September with about half its members, after the INM offered transport to Tuxtla Gutiérrez.