The first migrant caravan of 2025 is on its way to the U.S. southern border, as migrants desperately attempt to cross into the U.S. before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
According to the Associated Press, the migrant caravan, which is reported to have between 2,000 and 2,500 people, has left southern Mexico and is heading toward Mexico City, allegedly in hopes the migrants will be able to find alternative routes to the U.S. border.
While leaving Tapachula — located in the southern state of Chiapas — some of the caravan members said they were looking for better opportunities for their families.
Venezuelan migrant Johana Campos told the AP she wants help for her disabled son and her mother.
“I have a disabled son who we want to help with an intervention, a special wheelchair for him,” Campos said, “Help my mother, but mostly for the help that we can bring to our family there who are in crisis.”
However, U.S. Border Patrol issued a statement in late December, warning migrants against making the trek to the southern border due to the weather during the winter months bringing freezing temperatures — potentially exposing migrants to extreme cold, frostbite, hypothermia, or death.
“Crossing the border illegally is never safe, but the risks are even greater during the winter months,” El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Anthony Scott Good said in the statement. “We want to prevent unnecessary tragedies and remind people that these routes are controlled by transnational criminal organizations that exploit vulnerable individuals.”
According to the statement, fiscal year 2024 saw 176 illegal migrants die trying to cross the southern border via illegal smuggling schemes.
Bernalillo County, New Mexico District Attorney Sam Bregman added the dangerous conditions force migrants into being victims of these schemes out of desperation.
“The difficult and dangerous conditions that occur at this time of year are exactly what criminal organizations use to exploit migrants who are desperately seeking safety and shelter. This often leads to migrants finding themselves in an even more dangerous situation; victims trapped in a human trafficking ring who have now lost their freedom,” Bregman said.
