Thousands of migrants and asylum seekers slowly moved north in a caravan through the southern Mexican state of Chiapas on Tuesday in hopes of reaching the U.S. border, a day before U.S. authorities plan to visit Mexico to discuss migration.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Homeland Security Chief Alejandro Mayorkas will visit Mexico to meet with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Officials will discuss “unprecedented irregular migration in the Western Hemisphere” and identify ways Mexico and the United States can address border security challenges, according to a statement from State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
The meeting comes a week after US President Joe Biden's phone call with López Obrador, in which the two leaders said more enforcement measures were needed at their shared border.
On Tuesday, migrants and asylum seekers, many of them with young children, walked along the highway near the town of Villa Comaltitlán in southern Mexico. Some held a banner that read “Exit Poverty.”
Rosa, from El Salvador, said she hoped authorities would ease the suffering of migrants.
“We’re looking for something better for our children and our families,” she said as she walked. “I hope this touches your hearts,” she added.
According to the United Nations, migrants and asylum seekers travel to the United States via Mexico to escape violence, economic hardship and the negative effects of climate change.
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