What Is The Migrant Caravan And Why Does Trump Care?
A caravan of migrants, nearly all of them Hondurans, is making its way north through Guatemala toward Mexico and the United States. It is the latest, and certainly the largest, iteration of a phenomenon that has occurred from time to time: big groups of Central Americans joining together to face the challenges of migration, their numbers providing security against the criminals that stalk the route north.
But this one has drawn the ire of President Trump, who warned on Thursday that he would shut down the southwest border of the United States if Mexico did not halt the group. He also reiterated his threat that unless the governments of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador stopped the caravan’s progress, he would suspend foreign aid to them.
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The migrant caravan was formed late last week in San Pedro Sula, a city in northern Honduras known for high levels of violence. It originally numbered fewer than 200 people — in line with most past caravans. But as word spread, the mobilization quickly grew. By the time the group had crossed the border into Guatemala, its members traveling by foot and vehicle, it had ballooned to more than 1,000.
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With the caravan having already crossed into Guatemala, there was little the Honduran government could do to arrest its progress, though the administration of President Juan Orlando Hernández of Honduras deployed security forces to a main border crossing to try to prevent others from joining the migration. The Honduran government also urged citizens not to join the caravan, calling it a political mobilization aimed against the president.
Meanwhile, the Guatemalan government detained a former Honduran lawmaker who was traveling with the caravan, accusing him of failing to comply with immigration rules.
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The Mexican immigration authorities have said that migrants with valid documents and visas will be allowed in, but that those who attempt to enter illegally will be detained and deported. Those seeking asylum or some other forms of protection can request it, but will have to wait in a detention center for as many as 45 days, officials said.