Hundreds of Hondurans form new caravan, head for US

Hundreds of asylum seekers from Honduras have crossed into neighboring Guatemala in a newly-formed caravan heading toward the United States, amid persisting efforts by the American president to rally support for erecting a wall along the US-Mexico border.

More than 700 Honduran refugees — including entire families, some with small children — attempted to pass through the Agua Caliente border crossing between Honduran and Guatemala on Tuesday, but only some 360 individuals were able to present documents to pass through legally.

Nearly 350 others, however, were reportedly detained by local immigration authorities after crossing into Guatemalan territory for lacking proper identification documents.

Honduran Deputy Foreign Minister Nelly Jerez told reporters earlier on Tuesday that the caravan at the Agua Caliente border crossing numbered between 800 and 1,000 people.

According to Guatemalan police officials, scores of asylum seekers ran toward the border crossing, where they were met with a large group of police officers, and nearly 150 were turned away because they did not possess proper documents.

“Those who (lack documents) will be turned back,” said a spokeswoman for Guatemala’s immigration authority, Alejandra Mena.

Additionally, a second group of nearly 300 Honduran asylum seekers walked along a highway and was expected to reach the same border crossing on Tuesday night.

A smaller group of about 50 refugees had also reportedly gathered in the capital of El Salvador, intending to join with the caravan in Honduras.

Television footage also showed mainly younger refugees leaving the infamously violent Honduran city of San Pedro Sula on Tuesday, some of whom tried to get a ride, aiming to catch up with the caravan that left the city on Monday.

Meanwhile, nearly 2,500 refugees from a previous caravan of Central Americans who crossed Mexico have been camping in shelters in the Mexican border city of Tijuana.

The bodies of two slain Honduran migrant youths were found in Tijuana last month in a sign of the dangers facing the Central American refugees in Mexico as they attempt to seek asylum in the US.

PressTV-Two migrants from Honduras killed in Mexico

The bodies of two slain Honduran migrant youths have been found in the Mexican border city of Tijuana, officials say.

Meanwhile, Central American caravans heading toward the US border have exacerbated the debate over Washington’s immigration policy, with American President Donald Trump using the desperate refugees to win support for his plan to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.

Trump mentioned the new caravan in a Twitter post on Tuesday to pressure American legislators as a partial US government shutdown reached its 25th day.

Democratic lawmakers have resisted Trump’s insistence that Congress provide 5.7 billion dollars to fund his wall. And he has tied the opening of the government to the funding.

“A big new Caravan is heading up to our Southern Border from Honduras,” Trump tweeted. “Only a Wall, or Steel Barrier, will keep our Country safe! Stop playing political games and end the Shutdown!”

The US president also dispatched military troops to reinforce the border last year.

The Pentagon announced on Monday that it would extend the deployment of the nearly 2,350 troops at the US border through the end of September.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen further stated in a Twitter post that her agency was closely monitoring the new caravan, writing, “To be clear - participation in a caravan does not grant you a special status or provide you special treatment.”

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