By Daniel Becerril and Lizbeth Diaz
TAPACHULA, Mexico (Reuters) – Thousands of migrants traveling together in a caravan in Mexico are grappling with their next steps after former U.S. President Donald Trump, who ran on an anti-immigration platform, was propelled to victory for a second term.
After hearing Trump had won, many migrants in the caravan of about 3,000 people which started in the southern city of Tapachula on Tuesday, felt less hopeful about their chance at a new life in the United States.
“I had hoped (Kamala Harris) would win, but that didn’t happen,” said Valerie Andrade, a Venezuelan migrant traveling with the caravan from Chiapas to Oaxaca in southern Mexico.
Andrade, along with her husband, and like over 7 million other Venezuelans, left their crisis-ridden country seeking better prospects.
Trump, 78, clinched Tuesday’s election after a campaign that promised large-scale deportations and a return to fast-tracked deportations to Mexico.
His proposed immigration policies also include ending birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants.
During his previous administration, between 2017 and 2021 Trump put in place policies that left hundreds of thousands of migrants stranded in camps along the Mexican border, reshaping U.S. immigration politics.
A spokesperson for Chiapas state security told Reuters that while the migrant caravan continues north, some families are choosing to turn back to Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border.
However, for many, the journey northward persists.
Venezuelan migrant Jeilimar, who requested that her last name be withheld for her safety, remains hopeful her appointment to seek asylum via the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) app, CBP One, will come through before Trump assumes office in January 2025.
“With God’s favor, I’ll get that appointment,” she said, as she travels with her six-year-old daughter, intent on reaching the U.S.
Human rights activists say migrants will continue to arrive to the U.S. southern border.
“People will seek new paths; it’ll be more dangerous, but it won’t stop them,” said Heyman Vázquez, a Catholic priest and pro-migrant activist in Chiapas.
(Reporting by Daniel Becerril in Tapachula and Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City; editing by Diego Ore, Sarah Kinosian and Diane Craft)
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