A new group of nearly 2,000 migrants began a march on Monday, July 25, from southern Mexico towards the United States.

Close to the Guatemalan border, the group began their trek in the city of Tapachula where, due to overcrowded Mexican immigration offices, thousands of people were frustrated by slow paperwork.

Another migrant’s march started in November last year with also of about 2,000 migrants leaving Tapachula. Composed mainly of Haitians and Central Americans, who began to move north, this group agreed to be separated in the city of Huixtla and taken by bus to various cities to apply for humanitarian visas. In that initial context of the march, migrants were tired of the long delay in granting visas in the city, where many say they cannot find work.

Made up mostly of entire families, the people who marched in November received authorizations from the Mexican authorities that allowed them to remain in Mexican territory for up to 30 days while immigration procedures took place.

According to the Associated Press, “Many object to the Mexican strategy of keeping them in the south, away from the U.S. border. They say the process of normalizing their status — usually through applying for asylum — takes too long and they can’t provide for themselves while waiting weeks in Tapachula because jobs are scarce”.

Generally, the population of these states perceives that there are more opportunities to find work in the northern and western states of Mexico. Activists claim that even migrants who have received humanitarian visas that are supposed to allow them to travel in Mexico have been detained by immigration agents and sent back to Tapachula.

“Migrant caravans began several years ago as a way for migrants who did not have the money to pay smugglers to take advantage of safety in numbers as they moved toward the U.S. border. However, more recently Guatemala and Mexico have become more aggressive in quickly breaking up the caravans with security forces”, according to another AP publication.

“It is tough, but we’ll keep on going in hopes they’ll let us through,” said to Associated Press Nicaraguan migrant Moisés Chinchilla, who like most hopes to get a temporary residence permit”.

“While many migrants try to use the permits to give them time to reach the U.S. border, many are sent back to the south by Mexican officials”.