Thousands of migrants head for Mexico city, demand legal route to US

Tapachula: Thousands of migrants have come together in protest and are heading toward the capital of Mexico to speed up their applications for asylum in the US. The migrants, who were detained in Mexico for months, are mostly from Venezuela. They started their march from the city of Tapachula the city bordering Guatemala whose detention centers have been overwhelmed by their vast numbers. Some said they expected to reach Mexico City in about 10 days. Each year, migrants try to flee the violent and poverty-prone countries of Central America, in the hope to enter the US safely and legally. Thousands of migrants walk together, crossing several states to reach Mexico. The most recent caravan has about 3,000 migrants, some from China and other Asian countries, Tapachula authorities estimated. “We joined the caravan to be safer and not be detained,” said Yoani, a Venezuelan migrant, who only gave his first name, by phone.

Out of money, he said his family was hoping to speed up the legal process needed for onward travel to Mexico City.

Irineo Mujica, director of the non-profit Pueblos Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders), said the new caravan arose as a form of protest by migrants demanding the closure of detention centers.

With inputs from agencies

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