New migrant caravan of 1,700 Hondurans heads to Mexico border, set sights on U.S.



Migrants traveling in a group begin their journey toward the U.S. border as they walk along a highway in San Salvador, El Salvador, early Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019. Migrants fleeing Central America’s Northern Triangle region comprising Honduras, El Salvador and ... more >

By Sonia Perez D. - Associated Press - Wednesday, January 16, 2019

AGUA CALIENTE, Guatemala (AP) – More than 1,700 Hondurans were walking and hitchhiking through Guatemala on Wednesday, heading toward the Mexico border as part of a new caravan of migrants hoping to reach the United States.

Over 1,700 migrants passed through the Agua Caliente border crossing under the watchful eyes of about 200 police and soldiers. Some migrants told The Associated Press that they crossed informally elsewhere.

Guatemala’s National Immigration Institute said there were 325 children or youths under 18 in the caravan. There were also just over 100 people from El Salvador.

Miria Zelaya, who left the Honduran city of Colon and was traveling with 12 relatives, said she did not know what sort of work she hopes to find in the United States but was not dismayed by tougher immigration policies under President Donald Trump.

“That does not discourage me,” Zelaya said. “The need is greater.”

Migrants leaving Central America’s Northern Triangle nations of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala routinely cite widespread poverty, lack of opportunity and rampant gang violence as their motivation.

 https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...exico-border-/