Honduran migrant caravan of 2,000 crosses Guatemala border, US-bound
Honduran migrant caravan crosses Guatemala border, US-bound
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Hundreds of Hondurans are blocked at the border crossing in Agua Caliente, Guatemala, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018. A caravan of Honduran migrant moved towards the country's border with Guatemala in a desperate attempt to flee poverty and seek new lives in the United States. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) (Moises Castillo)
By SONIA PEREZ D.Associated Press | October 15, 2018 at 3:41 PM CDT - Updated October 15 at 4:41 PM
OCOTOPEQUE, Honduras (AP) — A caravan of hundreds of Honduran migrants crossed the Guatemalan border under a broiling sun Monday hoping to make it to new lives in the United States, far from the poverty and violence of their home nation.
Singing the Honduran national anthem, praying and chanting, "Yes, we can," the group estimated at 1,600 or more insisted on traveling through Guatemala and Mexico in defiance of a Guatemalan order that the group not be allowed to pass.
"We have rights," the migrants shouted.
Keilin Umana, a 21-year-old who is two months pregnant, said she was moved to migrate to save herself and her unborn child after she was threatened with death.
"A letter arrived at my house saying I could not stay, that I had to leave, or else they were going to kill me," said Umana, who is a nurse.
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Guatemalan police agents block the border crossing where hundreds of Honduran migrants have arrived, in Agua Caliente, Guatemala, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018. The caravan of Honduran migrants moved towards the country's border with Guatemala in a desperate attempt to flee poverty and seek new lives in the United States. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) (AP)
"I was in hiding awhile," she added. "It's because I have this tattoo on my hand — it's not a gang thing. Look, it's the name of my father and mother."
Umana said she had been walking for four days. "We are not criminals — we are migrants," she said.
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Hondurans march in a caravan of migrants moving toward the country's border with Guatemala in a desperate attempt to flee poverty and seek new lives in the United States, in Ocotepeque, Honduras, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018. The group has grown to an estimated 1,600 people from an initial 160 who first gathered early Friday in a northern Honduras city. They plan to try to enter Guatemala on Monday. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) (AP)
Many in the caravan traveled light, with just backpacks and bottles of water. Some pushed toddlers in strollers or carried them on their shoulders.
Carlos Cortez, a 32-year-old farmer traveling on foot with his 7-year-old son, said the poverty back home has made it impossible to support a family.
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Hondurans march in a caravan of migrants moving toward the country's border with Guatemala in a desperate attempt to flee poverty and seek new lives in the United States, in Ocotepeque, Honduras, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018. The group has grown to an estimated 1,600 people from an initial 160 who first gathered early Friday in a northern Honduras city. They plan to try to enter Guatemala on Monday. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) (AP)
"Every day I earn about $5," Cortez said. "That isn't enough to feed my family."
The caravan was met at the border by about 100 Guatemalan police officers. After a tense standoff of about two hours, the migrants began walking again. The outnumbered police did nothing to stop them, merely accompanying them several miles (kilometers) into Guatemalan territory.
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Hundreds of Hondurans are blocked at the border crossing in Agua Caliente, Guatemala, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018. A caravan of Honduran migrant moved towards the country's border with Guatemala in a desperate attempt to flee poverty and seek new lives in the United States. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) (AP)
Some police and Guatemalan civilians offered the migrants water, and some locals drove Hondurans part of the way. Red Cross workers gave medical attention to some migrants who fainted in the heat.
The caravan began as about 160 people who first gathered early Friday to depart from San Pedro Sula, one of Honduras' most dangerous places, figuring that traveling as a group would make them less vulnerable to robbery, assault and other dangers common on the migratory path through Central America and Mexico.
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Hondurans march in a caravan of migrants moving toward the country's border with Guatemala in a desperate attempt to flee poverty and seek new lives in the United States, in Ocotepeque, Honduras, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018. The group has grown to an estimated 1,600 people from an initial 160 who first gathered early Friday in a northern Honduras city. They plan to try to enter Guatemala on Monday. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) (AP)
Local media coverage prompted hundreds more to join, and Dunia Montoya, a volunteer assisting the migrants, estimated Sunday that the group had grown to at least 1,600 people. Police gave their own estimate of around 2,000 on Monday.
The caravan formed a day after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence urged the presidents of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala to persuade their citizens to stay home and not put their families in danger by undertaking the risky journey to the United States.
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Hondurans march in a caravan of migrants moving toward the country's border with Guatemala in a desperate attempt to flee poverty and seek new lives in the United States, in Ocotepeque, Honduras, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018. The group has grown to an estimated 1,600 people from an initial 160 who first gathered early Friday in a northern Honduras city. They plan to try to enter Guatemala on Monday. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) (AP)
In April, President Donald Trump threatened in April to withdraw foreign aid from Honduras and countries that allowed transit for a similar caravan that set out from the Central American country. That caravan dwindled as the group approached the U.S. border, with some giving up along the way and others splitting off to try to cross on their own.
Historian Dana Frank, an expert on human rights and U.S. policy in Honduras, said the caravan could have political implications in the United States less than a month before the midterm elections.
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Guatemalan police agents block the border crossing where hundreds of Honduran migrants have arrived, in Agua Caliente, Guatemala, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018. The caravan of Honduran migrants moved towards the country's border with Guatemala in a desperate attempt to flee poverty and seek new lives in the United States. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) (AP)
"Whatever the caravan's origins, some in the United States will be quick to raise alarms about a supposed dangerous immigrant invasion, and use that to try to influence the upcoming U.S. elections," Frank said. "Others will view these migrants with compassion and as further evidence of the need for comprehensive immigration reform, a loving approach to those in such terrible straits and an end to U.S. support for the repressive Honduran government that is behind this humanitarian disaster."
Frank added that the caravan's rapid growth "underscores quite how desperate the Honduran people are — that they'd begin walking toward refuge in the United States with only a day back full of belongings."
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Guatemalan police agents block the border crossing to a Honduran migrant caravan in Agua Caliente, Guatemala, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018. Hundreds Hondurans have joined a caravan of migrants moving toward the country's border with Guatemala in a desperate attempt to flee poverty and seek new lives in the United States. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) (AP)
Honduras is largely dominated by murderous gangs that prey on families and businesses, and routinely sees homicide rates that are among the highest in the world.
Mexico's Interior Ministry issued a reminder over the weekend that Mexico does not issue entry visas for those who don't meet "the requirements to transit toward a neighboring country." Also, Mexico said it issues visas at its consulates abroad, not at border entry points.
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Honduran migrants bed down after pushing into Guatemala
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Honduran migrants walk past a roadblock of Guatemalan police as they make their way to the U.S., in Esquipulas, Guatemala, Monday, Oct. 15, 2018. Police stopped the migrants for several hours but the travelers refused to return to the border and were eventually allowed to pass. (Moises Castillo/Associated Press)
By Sonia Perez D. | AP October 16 at 12:09 AM
ESQUIPULAS, Guatemala — Hundreds of Hondurans hoping to reach the United States bedded down for the night in this Guatemalan town after that country’s authorities blinked first in attempts to halt their advance.
The group estimated at 1,600 to 2,000 people fleeing poverty and violence in Honduras marched into Guatemala in sweltering heat Monday, twice pushing past outnumbered police sent to stop them — first at the border and then at a roadblock just outside Esquipulas.
After those encounters, Mexico’s immigration authority sent out a fresh warning late Monday that the migrants would have to satisfy Mexican officials individually and that only those meeting requirements would be allowed to enter.
U.S. authorities were watching as well. Katie Waldman, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, said in a statement that the caravan was “what we see day-in and day-out at the border as a result of well-advertised and well-known catch-and-release loopholes.”
“Until Congress acts, we will continue to have de-facto open borders that guarantees future ‘caravans’ and record numbers of family units entering the country illegally,” she said.
The exhausted migrants entered Esquipulas during the evening and sought out food and places to sleep, hobbling on blistered feet. Few carried food and some residents began to organize to help feed them. Some migrants asked for money, others passing a bakery were handed bread.
The migrants arrived at the Guatemalan border singing the Honduran national anthem, praying and chanting, “Yes, we can.” The group defied an order by the Guatemalan government that they not enter.
“We have rights,” the migrants shouted.
Keilin Umana, a 21-year-old who is two months pregnant, said she was moved to migrate to save herself and her unborn child after she was threatened with death.
Umana, a nurse, said she had been walking for four days. “We are not criminals — we are migrants,” she said.
Many in the caravan traveled light, with just backpacks and bottles of water. Some pushed toddlers in strollers or carried them on their shoulders.
Carlos Cortez, a 32-year-old farmer traveling on foot with his 7-year-old son, said poverty back home made it impossible to support a family.
“Every day I earn about $5,” Cortez said. “That isn’t enough to feed my family.”
The caravan was met at the border by about 100 Guatemalan police officers. After a standoff of about two hours, the migrants began walking again. Officers did nothing to stop them, but accompanied them several miles (kilometers) into Guatemalan territory.
Officers then set up the roadblock about a mile (2 kilometers) outside Esquipulas. About 250 police kept them from advancing for three hours, telling them they had to return to the border to go through immigration. The migrants refused to budge and eventually officers again let them pass.
The caravan began as about 160 people who first gathered early Friday to depart from San Pedro Sula, one of Honduras’ most dangerous places, figuring that traveling as a group would make them less vulnerable to robbery, assault and other dangers common on the migratory path through Central America and Mexico.
Local media coverage prompted hundreds more to join during the weekend as the group moved toward Guatemala.
A day before the caravan formed, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence had urged leaders in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala to persuade their citizens to stay home and avoid the long, risky journey to the United States.
In April, President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw foreign aid from Honduras and countries that allowed transit for a similar caravan that set out from the Central American country. That caravan dwindled as the group approached the U.S. border, with some giving up along the way and others splitting off to try to cross on their own.
Historian Dana Frank, an expert on human rights and U.S. policy in Honduras, said Monday that the latest group could have political implications in the United States with the midterm elections coming up.
He said that “some in the United States will be quick to raise alarms about a supposed dangerous immigrant invasion” and that “others will view these migrants with compassion and as further evidence of the need for comprehensive immigration reform.”
Frank said the caravan’s rapid growth underscores “how desperate the Honduran people are — that they’d begin walking toward refuge in the United States with only a day pack full of belongings.”
Honduras is largely dominated by murderous gangs that prey on families and businesses, and routinely sees homicide rates that are among the highest in the world.
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