Thousands of migrants from Mexico are trying to enter the US on foot

On Christmas Eve, a large group of migrants left the southern Mexican city of Tapachula and are travelling on foot towards the border with the United States.

This is reported by the BBC.

According to various estimates, the column of migrants is about 7,000 people, including thousands of children. Leaders carry a banner reading "Exit poverty".

Many of the marchers admitted they decided to cross the border on foot after waiting months for transit permits.

The problem is that the southern border [with Guatemala] is open and 800 to 1,000 people cross every day. ...We are telling the Mexican state that it has left us no other option but to take the coastal highway and walk as far as we can get," said migrant rights activist Luis Garcia Villagran.

It is noted that the recent influx of migrants has led to the closure of several checkpoints on the US-Mexico border. In September this year alone, the US Border Patrol apprehended more than 200,000 migrants attempting to cross the border illegally.

To discuss the migrant situation, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will meet with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Wednesday.