Santiago Niltepec, Mexico – Carlos Perez, a 30-year-old Colombian migrant from Bogota, was on track to reach the United States border with his wife and 11-year-old son by the new year.
The trouble came, however, when his wife became overwhelmed with fatigue as they reached the city of Tapachula in southern Mexico. By that point, they had travelled 2,500km — more than 1,550 miles — on foot.
So, Perez bought a bicycle. Often, he pedalled while his wife and child sat on the handlebars. On treacherous roads and at night, Perez walked alongside them as they rode slowly through darkness.
But a road accident in mid-November tore the skin from his shins and bloodied his wife and son's arms.
Speaking a day later from a temporary migrant camp in Santiago Niltepec, Perez expressed a fear that their injuries will cost them the chance to cross into the US before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20, 2025.
“I don’t know if it’s possible to reach the border in time now,” Perez said.
Like many of his fellow migrants and asylum seekers, Perez fears that Trump will follow through on his pledges to "close" the US border with Mexico.
Trump, a Republican, has teased that his incoming administration plans to declare a national emergency and deploy military forces to prevent unauthorised crossings, which he likens to an "invasion".
Already, Trump has claimed that early negotiations with Mexico to crack down on migrants and asylum seekers have borne fruit.
“Mexico will stop people from going to our Southern Border, effective immediately,” Trump wrote on social media on November 27. “THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARD STOPPING THE ILLEGAL INVASION OF THE USA.”
Still, it is unclear whether his hard-knuckle rhetoric will help stem the flow of people coming to the US — or fuel it in the lead-up to his inauguration.
