Where Is The Migrant Caravan? Thousands Of Displaced Hondurans Look Up To Biden

Groups of Honduran migrants driven by poverty, unemployment and the hurricanes that devastated their homeland lingered on their desperate journey to the United States in the hope that the new president may change the immigration policies after assuming charge on Wednesday.

Guatemalan security forces turned away a caravan of migrants on the way to the Mexico-United States border on Tuesday. More than 3,000 people were sent back to Honduras or detained, but smaller groups are still trying to continue north toward the United States.

Joe Biden's Homeland Security Department nominee said Tuesday that the President-elect has committed to presenting Congress with an immigration reform bill on day one. Alejandro Mayorkas also said that he will work “to cease funding for further construction” of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border".

Asylum law will be applicable if the caravan, which originated in the city of San Pedro Sula in Honduras, reached the U.S. border, he added.

President Donald Trump had taken a hard position against illegal immigration and put pressure on neighboring countries to crack down on migrants and keep them from moving north. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged the U.S. to reform its immigration policy and hoped that Biden will work with Mexico and other countries on the issue, BBC reported.

Michael G. Kozak, the Acting Assistant Secretary for U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, praised the Guatemala government for “carrying out its responsibilities by responding appropriately and lawfully to the recent migrant caravan." He had earlier tweeted that a migrant caravan during a pandemic puts all at risk – its members, law enforcement, and citizens of the countries it transits.

Guatemalan troops blocked the caravan on Saturday and the police used tear gas and batons to stop the migrants from proceeding. Citizens of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are free to move among the three countries, but the migrants were stopped at the border because Guatemala now requires a negative COVID-19 report upon arrival, The Washington Post reported.

While a few crossed the Guatemala border, they were stopped at military checkpoints. BBC quoted witnesses as saying officers banged batons against the shields to make the migrants go back toward the Honduran border. Several migrants threw stones at the police, who responded with tear gas.