ASSESSMENTS

Why Migrant Caravans Are not Behind the Recent U.S.-Mexico Border Crossing Slowdowns

Apr 22, 2019 | 09:00 GMT

A Central American migrant caravan on Nov. 11, 2018, passes through the Mexican state of Guanajuato on its way to the United States.

(ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

Much has been made of so-called migrant caravans heading toward the U.S.-Mexico border, but they are a relatively small part of a broader problem increasing processing times for legal land border crossings into the United States.
These slowdowns affect the operations of businesses reliant on cross-border trade.
While current record levels of immigration will eventually drop off, seemingly intractable staffing challenges at U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the national political fight over the border will continue.

About 3,000 migrants from Central America crossed into Mexico from Guatemala via the Rodolfo Robles International Bridge on April 12, joining about 4,000 others already in Mexico's southern state of Chiapas hoping to make it to the United States. Based on the patterns of previous caravans from Central America, the migrants will take an additional three to four weeks to make their way north to the U.S. border, arriving sometime in early May. This timeline could be delayed, however, by an apparent crackdown by the Mexican government: Reuters reported on April 17 that Mexico City has sought to slow the caravans by closing visa offices in southern Mexico and stopping the processing of visas, stranding migrants in camps. Despite the outsized attention the caravans have drawn, they are just one of many factors that have contributed to the crisis unfolding along the border with Mexico....

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