More than 1,000 Hondurans trek to the US border in ‘March of the Migrant’ just days after United States called for tighter borders
Some 1,300 people set off from Honduras towards the United States on Saturday
Those making the trek included families and women carrying babies
It came just days after the U.S. urged Honduras’ president to halt mass migration
Group plan to walk from Honduras through Guatemala and into Mexico
DAILYMAIL.COM
14 October 2018
More than 1,000 people, including families and women carrying babies, have set off from Honduras towards the United States in a mass migration march.
Recent attempts at group crossings from Central American to the U.S. have tested PresidentDonald Trump’s ‘zero tolerance’ stance on illegal immigration, as people fleeing violence and poverty defy threats of deportation.
Some 1,300 people joined the so-called ‘March of the Migrant’ on Saturday – just days after the U.S. urged Honduras’ president to halt mass migration.
The group plan to walk from San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras through Guatemala and into Mexico.
Once in Mexico, they plan to request refugee status to remain in the country or a visa to pass through to the U.S. border, organizer Bartolo Fuentes said.
‘I believe we’ll get to the United States. There’s no work in Honduras, and you live in fear that they’re going to kill you or your children,’ said Fanny Barahona, 35, an unemployed teacher who walked with her nine-year-old son and carried a two-year-old daughter.
In April, media attention on a similar group of migrants, dubbed a ‘caravan,’ prompted Trump to press for tougher border security and demand such groups be refused entry.
Most in the caravan said they were fleeing death threats, extortion and violence from powerful street gangs.
More than 64 percent of Honduran households live in poverty, and San Pedro Sula has one of the world’s highest murder rates.
‘There is no work and so much violence that you can get killed walking down the street,’ said Javier Solis, 25, who said he has not found work in a year and wants to enter the United States. On a previous attempt, he was deported to Honduras upon reaching Mexico.
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