Caravan of 3000 migrants rush for US border on election day

Thousands of migrants have flocked to the US border in what Border Patrol officials have described as a mad dash over fears of a Trump win.

A new caravan with 3000 migrants is heading north to the US on election day in what Border Patrol officials are describing as a mad dash to cross the border while President Biden is still in office.

The caravan was seen heading out of Tapachula, 50 miles (80.4 km) from the Guatemalan border in southern Mexico, on Tuesday local time. Photos show countless men, women and children who are taking part in the gruelling, 2000-mile (3128 km) journey to America.

A US Border Patrol source told The New York Post the agency was well aware the US elections would trigger a new wave of mass migration.

Migrants depart Tapachula, Mexico, in hopes to reach the country's northern border and ultimately the United States on November 5, 2024. Picture: AP Photo/Moises Castillo

More than 10 million migrants will have been caught crossing the border illegally by the time President Joe Biden leaves office in January. Picture: AP Photos/Moises Castillo

“If Trump wins, they are gonna try to get here before he’s in office,” the source said.

“It’s one last f**k you to America.”

Another source added: “We knew that was coming because they want to get in before ‘orange bad man’ wins.”

More than 10 million migrants will have been caught crossing the border illegally by the time Mr Biden leaves office in January, according to an estimate by the House Committee on Homeland Security.

The administration saw its biggest surge last year after the Trump-era Title 42 ended, with more than one million people rushing to the border to try to enter within the span of a few months.

At the time of writing, it’s unclear whether Mr Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris will win the election.

Many migrants fear that should Mr Trump take office on January 20, he would bring a complete halt to America’s asylum program – giving migrants an incentive to get across the border before that.

Mr Trump has made illegal immigration one of the biggest platforms of his campaign, vowing to make the border his first priority and deport millions of undocumented immigrants if he’s returned to the White House.

Even if Mr Trump loses, migrants have little assurance over the future of the border as Ms Harris has echoed the need to strengthen the border in the final weeks of her campaign.

Members of the latest caravan said they were worried about the trip north, finding some comfort in the masses that provide safety from Mexico’s cartels.

Illegal immigration has been one of the biggest platforms of Donald Trump’s campaign. Picture: Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP

Kamala Harris has echoed the need to strengthen the border in the final weeks of her campaign. Picture: Loren Elliott/AFP

“We want US authorities to see us, to see that we are people who want to work, not to harm anyone,” said Honduran migrant Roy Murillo, who was travelling with his pregnant wife and two kids.

“Here, the cartels either kidnap you or kill you,” he told Reuters.

The caravan’s trip comes just weeks after another group of 2000 migrants left Tapachula for the US.

“(They) will make it. They always do,” one Border Patrol source told The Post of the caravan.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Mexican border in Eagle Pass, Texas, it was business as usual as border agents continued to deal with a stream of migrants crossing illegally into the US.

Early Tuesday, a group of nine migrants entered the country, guided by coyotes who waded them across the Rio Grande using an inner tube.

‘We want US authorities to see us, to see that we are people who want to work, not to harm anyone,’ one migrant said. Picture: AP Photo/Moises Castillo

The group, which consisted of migrant families and two unaccompanied children from Central and South America, trekked through the strong rapids and islands onto US soil, where they were picked up by Border Patrol agents in a neighbourhood full of million-dollar homes.

The group was taken into a bus for further processing.

Eagle Pass has seen a huge surge of mass migrant crossings ahead of the election, with more than 300 migrants turning themselves in to border agents each day in Maverick County, according to multiple Border Patrol sources.

While overall encounters over the border continue to decrease, with the Border Patrol catching 54,000 migrants in September, a 7.2 per cent drop from August, the Biden administration has overseen some of the highest peaks of migration in recent US history.

This article originally appeared on The New York Post and was reproduced with permission