Laredo, Texas.- 13 years ago, in 2010, a group of 35 families, strangers to each other, gathered in Laredo, Texas, with one goal: Travel the dangerous Mexican roads during the December holidays.
Thus was born the ‘caravan of strangers’ that later became a group called Migrantes Unidos en Caravana ACwho come together every year to cross to the Mexican side of the border with the United States, in the company of local, state and federal authorities.
The caravan has become so popular and key in the trips to Mexico of the countrymen who live in the United States that This year 2,640 cars gathered in Laredo and heading to Mexico.
How was Migrantes Unidos en Caravana born?
Juan Fernando Rocha Mier, president of the organization, remembers that The caravan arose as a result of the violent events that occurred in Mexico during 2010.
That year, a group of people organized to travel together. The idea was so popular that it gained popularity and gained the support of the authorities.
The members are people who travel from different locations in the United States, or even Canada to destinations in Mexico, such as Querétaro, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, State of Mexico, among others.
‘We have the dream of seeing our families,’ say countrymen who travel from the US to Mexico
José Antonio Guaracha Pérezone of the members of the ‘Caravan of strangers’, He travels with his family from Milwaukee to Celayain Guanajuato, a state that currently faces problems of violence and insecurity, after recent events such as the massacre in Salvatierra, where A group murdered 11 people and seriously injured 14 more.
Guaracha Pérez plans to spend the holidays and visit his loved ones during his stay in Mexico. “We all have the same dream of reaching our town, seeing our families,” he says.
Juan Carlos Pérez, who travels from Illinois to the State of Mexico, points out that The ‘Caravan of strangers’ has allowed him to meet more peoplejoin together on the journey and support each other.
“I come with some colleagues from Morelia (in Michoacán, another state with insecurity problems), and everything is fine. We come along the way and lend a hand to each other in case we need help.
“Also, I come with other friends from a town called La Loma, in the State of Mexico, and I have met people who go to Querétaro, Guanajuato, León, we start talking and we become friends with each other,” he says.
When does United Migrants en Caravan leave for Mexico?
The people who joined Migrantes Unidos en Caravana this year’s end left sharply at 3:00 in the morning on Tuesday, December 19 from Laredo, Texas, to Monterrey, Nuevo Leónwhere they will make their first stop.
After leaving the royal city, the migrants They will travel towards Saltilloin Coahuila, and from there they will continue on their way to the Parador San Pedro, in Matehuala, now in San Luis Potosí, where they will take a break.
Once there, people traveling as part of Migrantes Unidos en Caravana will make the decision to continue to San Luis Potosí or leave for other states in the Bajío or even continue their route to Querétaro, passing through Río Verde and San Ciro.
