A new, 2,000-person migrant caravan is making its way north to the US border — and is expected to reach El Paso, Texas in just the next few days.
Videos posted online show a swarm of people walking through the streets of southern Mexico on Monday.
In one clip, an apparent leader of the group could be seen encouraging the group to chant “a la frontera” through a bullhorn — meaning “to the border.”
The group then proclaimed in Spanish, “We are not criminals, we are international workers.”
Church-run border shelters are now preparing for the group’s arrival, as they run out of space to house the thousands of migrants trying to make their way into the United States, according to Border Report.
“We are in contact with people and personnel in migrant shelters in south Mexico,” Rev. Francisco Bueno Guillen, director of the Casa del Migrante shelter in the border city of Juarez, Mexico, told the news station.
“They saw many people have come into the country recently and are being joined by others already there,” he said. “And yes,they are coming to Juarez.”
He said they are expecting at least 2,000 migrants who set off from Chiapas, Mexico to arrive in El Paso in the coming days.
The so-called “Migrant’s Via Crusis” was organized by Mexican activists in Chiapas to ensure the safety of migrants making their way to the US.
It left the city of Tapachula, on the border of Guatemala, on Monday, according to Border Report.
Another group of several hundred foreign nationals have also set up a camp behind a convenience store in Chihuahua City — just about 230 miles from El Paso, it reports.
But Guillen said the Casa del Migrante shelter has already been filling up.
It was at just 20% of its capacity a few weeks ago, but was at 75% capacity as of Monday, he said.
The Kiki Romero municipal gym is also three-quarters full as of Wednesday, Juarez Human Rights Office Director Santiago Gonzalez told El Diario, a Mexican publication.
El Paso Catholic Diocese Bishop Mark J. Seitz has told his counterparts south of the border that it will “continue to marshal all available resources and be aware of the trends.”
“El Paso has shown itself to be very able to gear up when the surge comes and provide a safe and orderly way for those who have been permitted to come in to find a secure situation and continue on their paths,” he said, according to Border Report.
Meanwhile, the Texas National Guard has deployed two planes carrying 200 members of the Tactical Border Force to El Paso, according to KTSM.
The group specializes in issues of civil disobedience, a spokesperson for the Texas National Guard told the station.
Their deployment comes just days after a group of migrants stormed the border in El Paso, tearing down concertina wire and trampling over Border Patrol agents in their way.
Texas authorities have now charged nine migrants involved in the breach last Thursday.
The charges the migrants face include inciting a riot, damage of property of over $2,500 and assault on members of the Guard, a state government source told The Post.
Texas officials are also expected to charge dozens of others with felony or misdemeanor charges, the source said.
Federal authorities will have to hand over the accused to the state, according to the source.
