SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — It was a quiet night at the border in San Ysidro on Thursday, with no migrants waiting to be processed by Border Patrol between the two fences. However, the volunteers were still waiting in case someone showed up at the site.
Mandy Lien is a volunteer who helps provide things for the migrants when they arrive at the fence. While San Ysidro was quiet, all eyes were on Mexico as roughly 6,000 people traveled north, traveling as a caravan that left Tapachula on Christmas Eve.
Volunteers like Lien say they’re not too concerned about the caravan, saying the journey is long and not all make it to San Diego.
"A lot of them get stopped in Mexico City, a lot of them get stopped in other areas, and a lot of them get stopped in Tijuana," says Lien.
However, the number of encounters and apprehensions at the border continues to increase. In the last week, according to a tweet from San Diego sector chief Patricia McGurk-Daniel, there were over 7,000 apprehensions from 75 countries, 142 of those unaccompanied minors.
Despite the rising numbers and the caravan heading north, volunteers say they’ll continue helping for as long as possible.
It is unknown how quickly migrants will travel north and how many will arrive at the San Diego border.
