Thousands of migrants leave southern Mexico for the U.S. weeks ahead of presidential election
CBSOCT 2024
Migrant Caravan Heads North Ahead of US Election
Above: Migrants walk toward the US on a highway in Tapachula, Mexico, on Oct. 5, 2024. Image copyright: Stringer/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images
The Spin
Republican narrative
Of course, these people are risking life and limb to reach the US before the election. The Biden administration's open-border policies, which have so greatly harmed the US, are attractive when compared to Trump's plans to protect the US from invasion and keep these unvetted migrants from illegally crossing the southern border. The US can't be the world's oasis at the expense of national security.
Democratic narrative
From day one of Trump's initial campaign for president — and maybe even before that — Republicans have used election season to drum up Americans' fears of an invading caravan in order to steer votes. As we've seen in the past, this is just one of the numerous distortions Republicans tell about immigration. Once the election passes, stories of caravans usually disappear.