Caravan of at least 3,000 Hondurans is marching to the US-Mexico border in time for Biden to take over as president
As many as 3,000 Hondurans set off on foot Thursday for the Guatemalan border in hopes of reaching the United States, setting up a possible test of the incoming Biden administration's immigration policies just as a tough-on-migrants Donald Trump is set to leave office.
The people in the caravan likely are hoping to take advantage of what Biden has promised will be a more ‘humane’ approach to immigration, but officials from countries along their route to the US say they'll be stopped before they reach America by governments – including Mexico’s – that have stepped up efforts to halt the caravan.
Caravan members, who are fleeing violence and an economy battered by two Category 4 hurricanes and lockdowns imposed to control the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, organized their latest attempt at a chance to seek asylum from the United States via WhatsApp and Facebook groups last week.
A group of 300 was spotted departing Thursday evening from a bus terminal in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The number of caravan walkers then swelled significantly overnight as thousands more left the terminal around 5am local time.
A Honduran mother runs with her son in her arms to find transportation toward the Guatemalan border and continue their way to the United States on Friday as some 3,000 residents joined a caravan
A family in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, gets down from a box truck for a police checkpoint as they head toward the Honduran-Guatemalan border on Friday
Honduran migrants, members of a caravan of some 3,000 asylum seekers, get down from a van for a police checkpoint in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, as they make their way to the Guatemalan border where they hope they will be allowed to enter before making their way into Mexico and then eventually to the United States, their final destination
On Friday, members of Mexico's National Guard were dispatched to the southern city of Ciudad Hidalgo and positioned along the banks of the Suchiate River across from Guatemala to prevent a migrant caravan of Central Americans, most from Honduras, who are seeking to travel to the Mexico-United States border and seek asylum
The asylum-seeking Honduran adults were spotted carrying small children in their arms at the outset of a 162-mile journey to the Guatemalan border town of Agua Caliente as Honduras mobilized 7,000 police officers to supervise them.
Dozens could be seen on trucks while others were spotted dangling off them.
The move comes just five weeks after hundreds of Hondurans were bused back from Guatemala after a short-lived attempt to cross the border into Mexico was thwarted.
On Friday, the Guatemalan government deported an unknown number of Honduran nationals who illegally crossed into the neighboring Central American nation that borders with Mexico.
Coordinated security and coronavirus travel restrictions among countries will make it hard for the group to reach Mexico or continue their journey north to the United States.
Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico are keen to halt the first migrant caravan of the year, which comes before Biden takes office next Tuesday.
Members of the National Migration Institute and the Mexico National Guard walk toward the Suchiate River in the southern city of Ciudad Hidalgo to guard the border and prevent a migrant caravan of Central Americans expected to enter from Guatemala
Some Hondurans in the caravan were thwarted on their journey to the US and were rounded up Friday, where they waited in line to board buses and return to their home country after being stopped for illegal entry into Guatemala
Hondurans who are part of a new caravan of migrants heading to the United States try to climb a truck in Cofradia, Honduras, on Friday
A girl walks past Honduran security forces checking the documents of caravan members who abandoned their homes and set off a journey to the United States where they plan to seek asylum
Hondurans climb into the back of a pickup truck as they advance in a new migrant caravan bound for the United States, in Cofradia, Honduras
Young Honduran men secure a spot in the back of a truck traveling down a road in Cofradia, Honduras, as hundreds of others travel by foot toward the Guatemalan border en route to the US
The Guatemalan government on Thursday declared seven departments in a state of 'alert.' The decree limits public demonstrations and allow security forces to disperse any public meeting, group or demonstration by force.
Only those whose travel documents are up-to-date and can provide a negative coronavirus test will be allowed to enter Guatemala.
Mexican authorities said late Thursday that 500 immigration officers were being deployed to the Guatemalan border in anticipation of the caravan's arrival.
Honduran Jessenia RamÃrez, walking in the caravan, told AFP she left her husband and three children behind in hopes of providing them better options.
Hondurans walk along a road in the caravan of migrants, aiming toward the US
A man kisses his daughter as he takes part with other Hondurans in a new caravan of migrants traveling to the United States
A woman holds her baby as she joins other Hondurans in a new caravan of some 3,000 migrants who could soon test the immigration policy of incoming President Joe Biden, who has promised a more 'humane' approach to immigration when compared to that of the Trump Administration
'We are going in search of a better future, a job so we can send a few cents' back home,' RamÃrez said. 'We are trusting in God to open our path, Biden is supposed to give work opportunities to those who are there [on American soil].'
While Biden has promised a more humane approach to migration, in a departure from outgoing President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant policies, the countries on the migration route are expected to maintain their own security measure to limit irregular flows reaching the U.S. border.
Border arrests reached the highest level in nearly two years in December when U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 73,513 apprehensions.
Mark Morgan, acting commissioner at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, warned caravan members last Friday.
Honduran residents formed part of the latest caravan of would-be asylum-seekers. US officials have asked them to turn back, and countries along their routes have promised to halt their march
Honduran migrants cheer as they walk in a caravan toward the Guatemalan border early Friday
Hondurans heading to the United States walk in the middle of a street of Honduran police officers revising travel documents
'Do not waste your time and money, and do not risk your safety and health,' he said in a statement. 'Migrant caravan groups will not be allowed to make their way north in violation of the sovereignty, standing public health orders, and immigration laws of the respective nations throughout the region.'
Meanwhile, many are undeterred: In one Facebook group that has more than 5,500 members, people exchanged advice on how to reach 'paradise', how to protect themselves against fraudsters and the coronavirus on their trip north, and share prayers.
Central America is reeling from a wave of violence and growing hunger crisis in the devastating fallout of the Hurricanes Eta and Iota. Coronavirus lockdown measures have disrupted the job market.
Authorities in Central America and Mexico have stepped up efforts to stop the caravan well before the U.S. border, using anti-coronavirus measures as the latest tool to curtail migration.
Migrants walk carrying the Honduran flag as part of a caravan heading toward the Guatemalan border Friday before dawn
Despite warnings from the United States government, Hondurans took their chances and formed a caravan of some 3,000 asylum-seekers who abandoned their homes and set off for the Guatemalan border, hoping they will be allowed to transit through the neighboring Central American country before attempting to cross into Mexico before traveling north to the United States
That will likely be a relief for Biden, whose aides have privately expressed concerns about the prospect of growing numbers of migrants seeking to enter the United States in the early days of his administration
Biden has vowed to undo many of the border policies that were set in place by the Trump administration, but is seeking at least six months to develop a plan to process immigrants and obtain funding for immigration judges over fears of having 'two million people on our border.'
'It will get done and it will get done quickly but it's not going to be able to be done on Day 1,' Biden said.
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