A new caravan of migrants has been formed and is heading towards the U.S. border amid increasing concerns about the new COVID-19 variant. The caravan contains hundreds of migrants from Venezuela, Central America, Haiti, and Venezuela, and has begun moving toward America near the Guatemalan border.
The U.S does not require immigrants to provide proof of vaccination. Border patrol agents and data from border cities show that thousands of COVID-positive migrants have been allowed into the country.
Ex-Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Tom Homan talked about the caravan and the potential threat that the new omicron variant poses to Americans.
Homan stated that it is time to take Title 42 seriously and stop people coming to the U.S during the crisis. He also said that he heard that the Biden administration processes around 200 removals per day.
Title 42 allows the administration to ban people from entering the country in times of national emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the Biden administration has maintained this order, it has not applied it to unaccompanied children and most migrant families. Homan suggested that Biden take a leaf out of the Trump handbook and implement Title 42.
Homan stated that this has become a public health problem because of the COVID variant. He also said that opioids are coming across and fentanyl is coming across.
CBP data revealed that there were 164,303 migrants encounters at the southern border in October, which is a higher rate than last year.
After a few months of temporary residence in Chiapas, the migrants formed the caravan because they were tired of their living conditions and did not receive humanitarian visas that they claimed had been promised them by Mexican officials.
Tapachula saw several migrants being transferred to other parts of the country. However, hundreds of them remained behind and joined the caravan headed for America. The caravan will be heading to Mapastepec, which is about 60 miles from Tapachula to join another group.
