The journey that thousands of Central American migrants are making through Mexico to the southern U.S. border could take a month or even longer, depending on which section of the border they’re hoping to reach.
What started as a group of 160 Honduran nationals fleeing violence and a poor economy in early October has evolved into a 7,000-person caravan of migrants hoping to get to the United States where they can either apply for asylum at ports of entry or illegally enter the country.
[Trump: ‘Full efforts’ being made to stop migrant caravan]
But before they get to the United States, weeks of walking lay before them. The migrants did not bring vehicles with them on the journey and most are carrying a bag.
Some have speculated the group might reach the border by Election Day, which is just two weeks away. But that’s optimistic for those traveling on foot.
Mexico’s southern border is shared with Guatemala. From that border, it is 1,125 miles by foot to McAllen, Texas. At three miles an hour, that’s 375 hours, or about 38 days if they walk 10 hours a day.
The trip would bring the group through Mexico’s Chiapas, Veracruz, and Tamaulipas states along the Gulf of Mexico.
It’s not clear which parts of the U.S. southern border the migrants are looking to reach. The 1,000-person caravan that traveled from Central America in the spring went west to Southern California, but that route is more than twice as long the one to southern Texas.
To reach California, migrants would have to travel 2,500 miles across west Mexico. It would take almost three months on foot, based on 10 hours of walking each day.
President Trump has repeatedly blamed Democratic lawmakers for enticing migrants to travel to the U.S. without having applied for asylum at a U.S. consulate in one’s home country ahead of time. He said the new caravan is a result of lawmakers not fixing “loopholes” that allow the majority of families and children smuggled north to avoid prosecution and to be released from federal custody shortly after being apprehended.
Trump said aid to Central American countries would now be cut off or curtailed after they failed to rein in their own people.
[Related: House Democrat warns Trump: Cutting aid to Central America would break the law]
Although Mexico and the U.S. had talked last week about how to deal with the caravan that originated in Honduras, the Mexican government and military were unable to stop its progression.
Honduras, where the group originated, has the highest murder rate in the world. The country is home to 8.25 million people and has reported 90.4 murders for every 100,000 residents, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection would not comment on when it expects the caravan to reach the southern border. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.
