Migrant caravan leaves southern Mexico for US after midterm elections | Human Rights News
Many migrants stranded in southern Mexico say Democrats’ congressional victory has given them new hope of entering the United States.
Published on November 12, 2026
US President Donald Trump has warned Mexico that it must stop a group of migrants from crossing the country towards the US border or risk doubling tariffs.
“Huge CARAVANS are forming and beginning their illegal march through Mexico. Most of the people in these caravans are those that various countries don’t want,” Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social. The president said a “perceived loss” by his Republican Party in last week’s midterm elections had emboldened migrants and that he was warning the new Democratic governor of the border state of Texas about the problem.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
Republicans lost control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections, with Democrats losing several seats in both houses of Congress.
More than a thousand migrants began walking through southern Mexico in caravans on Tuesday, encouraged by Democrats’ election victory last week, as Mexican authorities blocked a second, smaller group from trying to reach the United States.
The caravan, called “God with us”, was on its way on Wednesday after leaving Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border, the day before, according to the Reuters news agency.
A Chiapas state government source estimates that around 1,500 people participated, many of them families, whose parents carry young children in their arms, in a stroller or on their shoulders.
The migrants, mostly from Central America, said they first wanted to reach Mexico City, more than 1,000 km (621 miles) away, a journey expected to take at least several weeks, to seek help from the Mexican government and protection from detention.
Tapachula is a key transit point for migrants heading to the United States, and thousands of people are stranded there due to U.S. entry restrictions and expulsions, with few jobs, little health care and limited access to schools.
Caravans are common, but many migrants said Democrats’ victory in the congressional elections, in which voters rebuked President Trump, in part for his immigration policies, had given them hope.
Unusual Democratic victories included the Texas governorship, which went to Gina Hinojosa, a Mexican-American woman and the first Latina to lead the state.
“Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel, a way for us to get in,” said Cesar Sandoval, a 47-year-old Nicaraguan who was deported from the United States a few months ago. “We think the Democrats will help us,” he added.
Second group blocked
Local news footage showed police positioned across a road and migrants running as they were surrounded. Around forty of them were arrested, according to information from Tapachula.
The largest group, around 1,000 people, crossed the border on Sunday evening without resistance. This is the third caravan to attempt to reach the United States since September, AFP said. The other two were disbanded before leaving Chiapas and their members obtained temporary residence permits.
“As long as Trump remains president, the deportations will not stop,” said Ivan Porraz, a researcher at the Southern Border College.
Gn usa
