© ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP via Getty ImagesA new batch of migrants storm the Guatemalan border
Reports from the Honduras-Guatemala border shows large groups of migrants illegally pushing past security personnel. Despite the threat of COVID-19, the migrants forced their way across the border.
A tweet released by
New York Times video correspondent Brent McDonald shows a "large caravan of Central American migrants fleeing pandemic-induced poverty" pushing their way past Guatemalan border security officials. He reports the group is heading to Mexico โ presumably with an intended destination of the U.S. southern border.
McDonald reported that Guatemalan border officials expect an additional 3,000 to attempt to enter from Honduras on Friday, raising the total two-day crossing to an estimated 6,000 migrants.
© ReutersMigrants trying to reach the US walk along a road in Entre Rios, Guatemala on October 1, 2020.
The Guardian also
reports thousands of Honduran migrants "hoping to reach the United States" are illegally crossing the border into Guatemala. The report estimates more than 3,000 had crossed the border by mid-day on Thursday.
The article states the odds of the caravan reaching the U.S. border is small due to increased immigration enforcement in Guatemala and Mexico following negotiations with the Trump administration earlier this year. As part of that negotiation, Mexico created a National Guard for the specific purpose of enforcing its southern border with Guatemala.
"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,"
The Guardian article reports. "They appeared to be mostly young men, though there were the occasional small children being pushed in strollers."
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Comment: RT reports Guatemalan border patrols are
turning back the illegal migrants:
The Guatemalan government has vowed to catch and expel US-bound migrants who entered the country illegally from Honduras, citing fears over the spread of coronavirus. Some 3,000 people have already crossed the Guatemalan border.
The influx of migrants poses a serious health threat amid the ongoing pandemic, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said while promising to push the group back.
"The order has been given to detain all those who entered illegally, and return them to the border of their country," Giammattei said in a televised speech.
We will not allow any foreigner who has used illegal means to enter the country, to think that they have the right to come and infect us and put us at serious risk.
Around 3,000 people entered the country on Thursday, with many of them simply pushing their way through border crossing points. The migrants rushed deeper into Guatemala afterwards, with many boarding passing traffic to move faster. At least one migrant was killed as he attempted to climb onto a moving truck, graphic imagery circulating online shows.
Large groups of migrants were spotted sleeping in the streets of Guatemalan towns overnight, with local police keeping a close eye on them.
Guatemalan authorities said earlier that some 3,000 more migrants were expected to reach the country's borders on Friday. Guatemalan director of migration, Guillermo Diaz, has called upon Honduran authorities to ramp up border security in the neighboring state and assist his country in containing the migrant flow.
The ongoing migrant caravan is the largest since the coronavirus pandemic reached Central America back in March. The pandemic has severely affected international travel in the region, including for illegal migrants, as well as elsewhere across the globe.
Comment: RT reports Guatemalan border patrols are turning back the illegal migrants: