New Migrant ‘Caravan’ Sets Off From Honduras, Could Arrive At US-Mexico Border Around
New Migrant ‘Caravan’ Sets Off From Honduras, Could Arrive At US-Mexico Border Around Election Day
Are they hoping for a post-election amnesty?
Published 2 hours ago on Oct 1, 2020
By Richard Moorhead
A new migrant “caravan” departed the city of San Pedro Sula in Honduras on Wednesday, hoping to reach the United States in the coming weeks.
CBS News has reported that some in Central America have promoted the idea of a new caravan on social media recently. The group had been slated to leave on October 1, but travelers carrying knapsacks and minimal supplies left the staging grounds for the caravan on Wednesday night.
Initial reports indicate that 900 prospective migrants have joined the caravan. The formations have historically grown as the large groups travel through Guatemala and Mexico, although they usually taper off in size before the travelers reach the US-Mexico border.
The ‘caravan’ phenomenon reached its peak in 2018, when formations of hopeful migrants of up to 10,000 were traveling through Mexico in hopes of reaching the United States. The introduction of the Trump administration’s ‘Stay-in-Mexico’ policy has proved integral to deterring the phenomenon, requiring those who seek asylum in the country to wait in Mexico while their application is processed.
This caravan appears to be the first of its kind since the 2018 rush of caravans, and its timing is rather conspicuous. The migrants may very well arrive in the vicinity of the US-Mexico border near election day, and some may be under the impression that a tentative President-elect Joe Biden would grant them generous residence and asylum privileges.
Illegal immigration has begun to surge in recent weeks and months as an implication of the global coronavirus recession in Mexico and Central America, and the new group represents a potent health risk to those traveling within it, as well as to citizens of Guatemala, Mexico and the United States present where it is intending to travel.
They may very well be right. Biden has pledged not to deport anyone except illegal aliens who commit felonies(other than immigration violations) in the United States. This would represent a destruction of American immigration enforcement, and the caravan migrants seem only to be taking him for his word in assuming they’ll be allowed into the country.
https://bigleaguepolitics.com/new-mi...-election-day/
VIDEO: New migrant caravan of thousands, bound for the US, illegally floods into Guat
VIDEO: New migrant caravan of thousands, bound for the US, illegally floods into Guatemala IDEO: New migrant caravan of thousands, bound for the US, illegally floods into Guatemala
Guatemala is concerned the caravan could spread COVID-19
A massive migrant caravan charged into Guatemala, the first since the coronavirus pandemic hit Central America in March. Videos show thousands of Honduran migrants pour across the Guatemala border as they march toward their final destination of the United States.
More than 3,000 migrants illegally crossed from Honduras and into Guatemala by midday on Thursday, The Guardian reported. New York Times correspondent Brent McDonald said, "Guatemala border officials expect another 3,000 migrants to enter from Honduras" on Friday. "That makes 6,000 so far en route to Mexico and the U.S. Just in time for the U.S. election."
Guatemalan authorities had planned to register the migrants and offer assistance to anyone willing to turn around and go back to Honduras. However, the caravan stampeded through the border and past the massively outnumbered armed guards in the Guatemalan city of El Corinto.
Todd Bensman
@BensmanTodd
Here comes the latest caravan, gleefully smashing through Honduran police on their way to the US southern border. Video courtesy of the Guatemalan government
https://twitter.com/i/status/1311995540373155841
https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_t...8dRenEKtUY.jpg
7:44 AM · Oct 2, 2020
One Honduran man died during the chaotic scene.
"The Guatemalan Institute of Migration said the man, who was not identified, was traveling aboard a tractor-trailer in the border town of Entre Ríos when he fell to the ground and was subsequently run over by the truck," the Daily Mail reported.
"The migrants who arrived at the Guatemala border on Thursday had set out walking the previous night from San Pedro Sula, and many wore masks," according to The Guardian. "They appeared to be mostly young men, though there were the occasional small children being pushed in strollers."
"They're leaving in groups and what they're looking for are life alternatives outside Honduras because Honduras has nothing to offer," Scalabrinian Sister Nyzelle Juliana Donde, director of the Honduran bishops' migrant ministry, told the Catholic News Service. "What most migrants do is leave for basic needs. The pandemic exacerbated hunger, poverty, lack of opportunity. 'Maras' and gangs have also worked very hard during this time."
Guatemalan officials have concerns about a massive caravan traveling through the country.
"We're talking about a caravan in the middle of a pandemic," said Guatemala's migration director Guillermo Díaz. "The situation is complicated because they broke the health protocols and we don't know who has entered (the country)."
Guatemala has had over 3,200 COVID-19 deaths, and Honduras has had nearly 2,400 coronavirus deaths, according to Worldometers. Guatemala only opened its borders last week after being closed for six months to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The Guatemalan government promised to detain and deport anyone caught illegally crossing its border.
In October 2018, President Donald Trump said he would be ending or "substantially reducing" foreign aid to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador if they didn't do something about the caravans flowing into the United States.
In June 2019, Mexico and the U.S. reached a deal to curb migrants flooding across the border.
"Given the dramatic increase in migrants moving from Central America through Mexico to the United States, both countries recognize the vital importance of rapidly resolving the humanitarian emergency and security situation," the joint agreement states. "The Governments of the United States and Mexico will work together to immediately implement a durable solution."
On Friday, journalist Todd Bensman posted a video of Mexican federal troops at the Guatemalan border preparing to stop the migrant caravan from entering Mexico.
Todd Bensman
@BensmanTodd
The last time Mexico marshaled federal troops like this for a migrant caravan (January 2020), every single migrant ended up on a bus back to Honduras and Guatemala. Sure there were extended melees but full buses still rolled south.
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...0Ec_normal.jpg
Todd Bensman
@BensmanTodd
Looks like these migrant caravanners are heading straight into a Mexican brick wall.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1312065337714774018
https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_t...UGQR3XsxqL.jpg
2:07 PM · Oct 2, 2020
https://www.theblaze.com/news/migran...uatemala-video
