Fresh wave of 7,000 migrants set to crash into US border ahead of Blinken’s Mexico visit

A fresh wave of 7,000 migrants is set to crash into the already flooded US southern border ahead of a visit to Mexico by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken later this week.

Hailing mostly from Cuba, Haiti and Honduras, a newly formed caravan of thousands of asylum-seekers began its march through Mexico to the border days before Blinken’s meeting with Mexican President Andres Lopez Manuel Obrador to discuss surging illegal immigration.

Departing from the southern Mexican city of Tapachula, the throng began its journey Christmas Eve.

Migrants at the front of the mass held a large cross along with a banner reading “Exodus from poverty.”

Tapachula officials said the town’s resources were straining to accommodate the migrants who gathered there in unmanageable droves.

“The problem is that the southern border [with Guatemala] is open, and 800 to 1,000 people are crossing it daily,” said migrant right activist Luis Garcia Villagrin, who is accompanying the group. “If we don’t get out of Tapachula, the town will collapse.”

The caravan advanced roughly 9 miles after beginning their trek at dawn Sunday, according to the BBC.

There have been more than 2 million migrant encounters at the US southern border in the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years, with officials there warning that the influx shows no signs of slowing.

Nearly a quarter million migrants crossed the southern US border in November alone — a new high for the month and the third highest total in history.

With pressure mounting on the White House to tackle the spiraling crisis, Obrador has signaled a willingness to work with US officials.

The Mexican president spoke with US President Biden last week to address illegal immigration ahead of Blinken’s visit Wednesday.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre last week attempted to downplay the eye-popping figures emerging from the border.

“What we’re seeing here at the border, the increased migration flow, certainly, it ebbs and flows,” she said. “And we’re at a time of the year where we’re seeing more at the border. And it’s not unusual. This is an immigration system that has been broken for decades.”

But Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel pushed back on that position Saturday, arguing that the incursion is reaching unprecedented levels.

“The numbers don’t lie,” McDaniel she said. “Joe Biden created a humanitarian crisis at our border and is actively weakening our national security.”