The caravan, which organizers say numbers thousands of people, formed in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula on Saturday and crossed into Guatemala on Monday.
Guatemala detained one of the caravan’s coordinators on Tuesday, a Guatemalan government source told CNN. But other members of the caravan were still trekking north.
Members of the group told CNN en Español that they decided to join the caravan and head to the United States because of insecurity and a lack of jobs in Honduras. Many are traveling with children in tow.
As local media documented the first steps of the group’s journey over the weekend, government officials across the region spoke out, advising them to turn back.
“Please bear in mind that current legislation does not permit entry into Mexico if requirements to travel to a neighboring country have not been met,” the statement said. “To avoid surprises, please inform yourself before starting out.”
But the caravan continued undeterred.
Police in Esquipulas, Guatemala, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border, blocked their path for nearly two hours on Monday, according to local media reports, but eventually allowed them to continue their journey after the migrants refused to turn back.
By Tuesday morning, the caravan had caught the attention of Trump, who tweeted about it.
Vice President Mike Pence also weighed in, tweeting that he’d spoken with Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández and Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales. Trump’s message to Honduras, he said, also applies to Guatemala: “no more aid if it’s not stopped!”
Bartolo Fuentes, one of the coordinators of the caravan, told CNN on Monday the group planned to apply for humanitarian visas in Mexico that would allow them to travel through the country to the US border.
Many families in the caravan spent Monday night in Esquipulas and restarted their march north Tuesday morning.
Organizer arrested as governments speak out
Guatemalan authorities detained Fuentes and two others on Tuesday, the Guatemalan government source told CNN. All three are set to be returned to Honduras in the coming hours, the source said. The reasons for their detention remain unclear.
Fuentes, a former lawmaker from Honduras, told CNN Tuesday morning that police had been following him in Guatemala.
The caravan “was organized by political sectors with false promises,” the statement said.
“The organizers are deceiving the people, making them believe that if they arrive in the United States, they will be welcomed.”
Six months ago, another high-profile caravan headed to the border
Ultimately, hundreds of migrants from that group crossed the US border and asked for asylum.
Leaders of the new caravan told CNN en Español that it formed spontaneously and was organized through social networks.
This caravan’s formation also comes just weeks before high-stakes midterm elections in the United States, in which many Republican candidates have been echoing the President’s messaging about boosting border security and cracking down on illegal immigration. And no matter what happens next to these migrants, their caravan is likely to come up on the campaign trail.
“We are concerned that these migrants have been the victims of false promises by those seeking to exploit them,” a State Department spokesperson said Tuesday.
US Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Katie Waldman said the agency is monitoring the caravan and working with Central American countries and Mexico on the matter.
“As we have said time and again, 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,” Waldman said.
Honduras receives millions in US foreign aid
CNN’s Leyla Santiago, Geneva Sands, Gremaud Angee, Natalie Gallón, Jennifer Hansler, Elvin Sandoval and Michelle Mendoza contributed to this report.
Source : Nbcnewyork