A leader of a 5,000-strong migrant caravan heading towards the U.S. border has claimed that Latin American nations are ‘ganging up’ on the Biden administration and creating artificial problems, in order to extract money from Washington DC.
Irineo Mujica, a U.S. citizen who describes himself as a human rights defender, told Real America’s Voice he was ‘shocked’ that Joe Biden was being played by Mexico‘s president and other regional leaders, and said the White House ‘has a lot to learn’.
Mujica repeatedly said Biden has ‘dropped the ball’, and said he preferred Donald Trump because his policy on the border was clear.
‘This is being used by the countries to make sure they get what they want from the United States,’ said Mujica.
‘I am completely stunned. Joe Biden has lost the ball. Where is the American intelligence?
‘Don’t they know all the countries are conspiring against the United States to make sure they have this crisis be made?
‘They make the baby, now they try to sell it.’
Irineo Mujica, a U.S. citizen who describes himself as a human rights defender and is accompanying the migrant caravan, said the Biden administration was being played by Latin American leaders
A caravan of 5,000 migrants departed from the southern Mexican border city of Tapachula on Monday to make their way to the northern border region across from the United States
The migrants left Tapachula and traveled nine miles to the city of Alvaro Obregón, where they slept Monday night and departed early Tuesday morning in hopes of walking about 15 more miles
Migrants from Central America, Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti initiated the trek on Monday after they had grown frustrated with the long wait times the Mexican government was taking.
They had been waiting to process their refugee or exit visa applications at the main immigration processing center in the Chiapas town of Tapachula, near the Guatemala border.
Mexico’s National Migration Institute, which is tasked with approving or denying the applications, has been backed up with requests.
Migrants normally wait weeks or months to have their status legalized, which allows them to work and move freely in the country.
But on Monday they set off without the paperwork, hoping to reach the border and claim asylum.
The march is said to be the largest since June 2022 when 6,000 people, many from Venezuela, took off from Tapachula.
Mujica is seen in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, on October 20 demanding free transit permits be given to migrants
Mujica hands out cookies and crackers in Tijuana in November 2018. He says the situation now is as bad as he’s seen it
Mujica, who was accompanying them, claimed that Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Mexico’s president, was complicit in the chaos.
‘I am a human rights defender for almost 70 years and I have not seen it worse,’ he said.
‘This is not normal. This is being used by the countries to make sure they get what they want from the United States.’
He said the Latin American nations were ‘transporting people, letting people in’, as a way to get money from the United States to deal with the situation.
Mujica said he crossed with a group of people through the Darien Gap, the treacherous stretch of jungle separating Colombia and Panama, and the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, turned a blind eye.
He claimed the government was in cahoots with the drug cartels to profit from the migration.
‘All those people went through, and after that every country has been just providing them rights, charging them $20, $30 or $40, and then just pushing them in, pushing them in, all the way to the Mexican border,’ he said.
‘And then when you get to the Mexican border, you don’t have mass deportation.’
A migrant pushes a stroller as he walks along the road in Tapachula, Mexico, alongside a caravan of about 5,000 people from Central America, Venezuela, Haiti and Cuba in an attempt to reach the U.S. border
Mujica said the Latin American governments ‘weaponize’ the migrants, releasing or holding them at will to extract money from Washington.
‘As an American citizen I would say: do not give Mexico or any of those countries that completely responsible, any money. Give them zero cents.’
He added: ‘It’s not humane what they are doing.
‘Because they are charging that blood, of the migrants, to the United States.
‘Definitely Joe Biden has lost the ball – he has a lot to learn.
‘I think the policies of Joe Biden are worse than Donald Trump, as Trump at least knew what to say to stop immigration.
‘He has lost all the respect of countries.
‘Obrador can pull them in and get what he wants from the United States.’
Single adults and family units were seen traveling along the highway on Monday as police served as escorts.
The group stopped traveled close to nine miles, reaching the municipality of Alvaro Obregón, where they camped out overnight, according to Mújica.
They were back on the road on Tuesday by 5am and planned to advance another 15 miles, according to Univision.
Venezuelan national Daniel González said that he had been on the road for three months and is not planning on returning because of the dire economic situation back home.
The latest caravan of about 5,000 is said to be the largest since 6,000 people, mostly Venezuelans left Tapachula in June 2022
Oscar Gutiérrez also abandoned Venezuela with his wife and two daughters and hopes Biden will allow them to resettle there.
‘In Venezuela things are very tough, we can’t live with the money we get, it’s not enough for us, and that’s why we’re going to the United States,’ he said.
‘We’re going to keep going,’ he said. ‘In Tapachula, nobody helps us.’
Honduras native Leonel Olveras said: ‘The don’t give out papers here. They ask us to wait for months. It’s too long.’
A migrant family joined a caravan of migrants that left Tapachula, Mexico, for the United States
A migrant girl sleeps as other caravan members rest following a long day of travel
Migrants haven grown tired of having to wait weeks or months to have their refugee or visa applications approved by Mexico’s immigration agency
Some of the migrants in Tapachula had expressed interest to work for the government and help with the recovery efforts in the resort city of Acapulco, which was ravaged last week by Hurricane Otis.
The latest caravan comes at a time when Biden is facing intense pressure to reduce the number of undocumented immigrants at the southwestern United States border.
U.S. Customs Border and Protection recorded 269,735 encounters along the southern border region in September, the most since December 2022 when 252,315 interdictions were registered.
Overall, CBP reported 2,475,669 interdictions in fiscal year 2023 (October 2022 to September 2022), surpassing the previous fiscal year when 2,378,944 encounters were recorded.
‘In response to high rates of encounters across the southwest border in September, CBP surged resources and personnel,’ CBP acting commissioner Troy A. Miller said in an October 21 statement.
‘We are continually engaging with domestic and foreign partners to address historic hemispheric migration, including large migrant groups traveling on freight trains, and to enforce consequences including by preparing for direct repatriations to Venezuela.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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