Another big migrant caravan is headed for the United States, drawing Trump's ire again
Another big migrant caravan from Central America is headed for the U.S. and Trump is already attacking it.
Another big migrant caravan is headed for the United States, drawing Trump's ire again Another big migrant caravan from Central America is headed for the U.S. and Trump is already attacking it. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/immigration/2018/10/16/another-migrant-caravan-headed-u-s-drawing-trump-ire-again/1663942002/
Honduran migrants walk past a roadblock of Guatemalan police in Esquipulas, Guatemala, on Oct. 15, 2018, as they make their way to the United States. Police stopped the migrants for several hours but the travelers refused to return to the border and were eventually allowed to pass. Moises Castillo, Associated Press
Another big migrant caravan heads for the United States
Honduran migrants stand outside a Catholic church, one waving his nation's flag, before starting to walk again as part of a caravan Oct. 16, 2018, in Esquipulas, Guatemala. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to cut aid to Honduras if it doesn't stop the impromptu caravan of migrants. Moises Castillo, Associated Press
Honduran migrants walk in a group toward the U.S., as they make their way through Chiquimula, Guatemala, on Oct. 16, 2018. Moises Castillo, Associated Press
Omar Orella pushes Nery Maldonado Tejeda in a wheelchair Oct. 16, 2018, as they travel with hundreds of other Honduran migrants near Chiquimula, Guatemala. They were headed for the United States. Moises Castillo, Associated Press
Honduran migrants walk toward the United States. as they arrive at Chiquimula, Guatemala on Oct. 16, 2018. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to cut aid to Honduras if the nation doesn't stop the impromptu caravan of migrants. Moises Castillo, Associated Press
A Honduran migrant carries his son in Chiquimula, Guatemala, on Oct. 16, 2018, as he heads toward the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to cut aid to Honduras if it doesn't stop the migrant caravan. Moises Castillo, Associated Press
A couple of nuns accompany Honduran migrants as they arrive Oct. 16 in Chiquimula, Guatemala, on their way to the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to cut aid to Honduras if the impromptu caravan of migrants isn't stopped. Moises Castillo, Associated Press
Honduran migrants rest Oct. 16, 2018, at an improvised shelter in Chiquimula, Guatemala. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to cut aid to Honduras if the nation doesn't stop the impromptu caravan of migrants. Moises Castillo, Associated Press
Honduran migrants rest Oct. 16, 2018, at an improvised shelter in Chiquimula, Guatemala. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to cut aid to Honduras if the impromptu caravan of migrants isn't stopped. Moises Castillo, Associated Press
Honduran migrants rest Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018, at an improvised shelter in Chiquimula, Guatemala. Moises Castillo, Associated Press
Honduran migrants walk past a roadblock of Guatemalan police in Esquipulas, Guatemala, on Oct. 15, 2018, as they make their way to the United States. Police stopped the migrants for several hours but the travelers refused to return to the border and were eventually allowed to pass.
Daniel Gonzalez, Arizona Republic Published 10:49 p.m. ET Oct. 16, 2018 | Updated 11:47 p.m. ET Oct. 16, 2018
Honduran migrants rest Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018, at an improvised shelter in Chiquimula, Guatemala.(Photo: Moises Castillo, Associated Press)
Six months after hundreds of migrants from Central America traveling in a caravan arrived in Tijuana seeking asylum in the United States, another large caravan is headed toward the United States, quickly drawing condemnation from President Donald Trump.
"Anybody entering the United States illegally will be arrested and detained, prior to being sent back to their country," Trump tweeted late Tuesday.
Videos and photos posted on Twitter show a river of men, women and children from Honduras streaming Guatemala trying to reach the U.S. border. Estimates of the size of the new caravan varied from more than a thousand to 2,500 people, rivaling or surpassing the caravan last spring.
Anybody entering the United States illegally will be arrested and detained, prior to being sent back to their country!
Walking the 14km or so up to Esquipulas from the border with an estimated 2,500 people after #Guatemala backed down and police let the #Honduras migrant caravan pass. Here's a clip of people crossing, from earlier: pic.twitter.com/HWh3tKuzvU
— Sandra Cuffe (@Sandra_Cuffe) October 15, 2018
Trump threatened to withhold aid to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador if they allow the caravan to pass through on the way to the United States.
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"We have today informed the countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador that if they allow their citizens, or others, to journey through their borders and up to the United States, with the intention of entering our country illegally, all payments made to them will STOP (END)!," Trump tweeted.
Esta es la opinión de una ciudadana de #Honduras que participa en la #CaravanaDeMigrantespic.twitter.com/CWVhtbldsV
— David de la Paz (@daviddelapaz) October 15, 2018
Earlier in the day, Trump warned Honduras to stop the caravan or risk losing financial aid from the United States.
"The United States has strongly informed the President of Honduras that if the large Caravan of people heading to the U.S. is not stopped and brought back to Honduras, no more money or aid will be given to Honduras, effective immediately!," Trump said in the tweet.
The United States has strongly informed the President of Honduras that if the large Caravan of people heading to the U.S. is not stopped and brought back to Honduras, no more money or aid will be given to Honduras, effective immediately!
In a tweet also posted Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence said he told Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez that "the U.S. will not tolerate this blatant disregard for our border & sovereignty."
"Spoke to President Hernandez of Honduras about the migrant caravan heading to the U.S. Delivered strong message from @POTUS: no more aid if caravan is not stopped. Told him U.S. will not tolerate this blatant disregard for our border & sovereignty," Pence said in the tweet.
Spoke to President Hernandez of Honduras about the migrant caravan heading to the U.S. Delivered strong message from @POTUS: no more aid if caravan is not stopped. Told him U.S. will not tolerate this blatant disregard for our border & sovereignty. https://t.co/d0fOMcpoUi
— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) October 16, 2018
Journalists traveling with the caravan posted photos and video of hundreds of people streaming across the border from Honduras into Guatemala, where on Tuesday the caravan had stopped in Esquipulas.
"Why are we going? Because we don't have jobs. The government that we have doesn't work, and we are looking for a better country," one Honduran woman said in a video posted on Twitter.
The latest caravan comes after a large caravan of migrants mostly from Honduras left Tapachula, Mexico, near the border with Guatemala in March, prompting Trump to sign orders deploying National Guard troops to assist the Border Patrol with security along the southern border with Mexico.
In previous years, the caravan had attracted only about 200 to 300 people, but in March it unexpectedly swelled to about 1,600 people, largely migrants from Honduras fleeing gang violence, poverty and a political crisis triggered following November's presidential election. Many Hondurans believe that election was stolen by the U.S.-backed president, Hernandez, who won a razor-thin victory over his main rival, Salvador Nasralla.
About 350 people who traveled the entire way through Mexico with the caravan arrived about a month later in Tijuana after traveling about 2,500 miles on foot, by bus and on freight trains.
After initially being turned back by U.S. border officials, most were eventually allowed to enter the United States to apply for asylum to remain in this country.
A steady flow of migrant families from Central America and parts of Mexico arriving at the southern border seeking refuge in the United States has vexed the Trump administration, which in the spring announced a zero-tolerance policy that resulted in the forced separation of nearly 3,000 migrant children from their parents.
The Trump administration ended the policy in June amid intense criticism and global condemnation.
Surge forces release of families
Honduran migrants walk in a group toward the U.S., as they make their way through Chiquimula, Guatemala, on Oct. 16, 2018. (Photo: Moises Castillo, Associated Press)
Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities announced that a surge of migrant families arriving at Arizona's southern border had forced the agency to begin releasing families without fully reviewing their travel plans because of a lack of detention space to avoid the risk of violating a decades-old court agreement known as the Flores settlement that limits the amount of time migrant children can be held in detention.
MORE: Finding victims of illegal Arpaio detentions in Mexico like finding 'needle in a haystack'
The Trump administration has blamed the Flores settlement with encouraging migrant families from Central America to come to the United States without visas knowing they likely will be released shortly after being apprehended while they apply for asylum, a process that can take years.
The Trump administration is seeking to overrule the settlement to hold children and parents in detention centers until they can be quickly deported.
A couple of nuns accompany Honduran migrants as they arrive Oct. 16 in Chiquimula, Guatemala, on their way to the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to cut aid to Honduras if the impromptu caravan of migrants isn't stopped. (Photo: Moises Castillo, Associated Press)
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