Clashes broke out Friday night between migrants and Honduran security forces, as the caravan of illegal travelers attempted to cross the border into Guatemala.
Guatemalan authorities have detained hundreds of Honduran migrants from the caravan including families with young children, though thousands of others were able to breach border security and continue their march northward, Reuters reported.
“We are going to leave the country, to ask for help wherever they receive us,” one migrant told The Associated Press.
Some 6,500 souls are on the move, fleeing poverty and political corruption in the hope of ultimately finding a better life in the United States.
Multiple Central American states and Mexico have been coordinating security protocols to prevent the caravan from continuing on. Many nations have also expressed concerns about how the caravan could become a breeding ground for COVID-19 and who would care for stricken migrants without documentation.
It’s the first migrant caravan of 2021 and the first that will likely crash along the US border during President Joe Biden’s administration. Though Biden has promised more lenient immigrants rules, his officials have warned that many of Trump’s immigration policies will likely remain for the foreseeable future.
“We will be able to take some steps to change policies right away. Others will take time to put in place, and the situation at the border will not transform overnight, due in large part to the damage done over the last four years. But we are committed to addressing it in full,” incoming domestic policy adviser Susan Rice told the Spanish wire service EFE in December.
