US warns immigrants not to start a new caravan

Credit: JOHAN ORDONEZ / AFP via Getty Images

(CNN Spanish) -

The United States government sent a message on Friday to those who, according to publications on social networks, seek to form a new migrant caravan from Honduras that leaves this week for the United States: do not do it.

"Do not waste your time and money, and do not risk your safety and health," Acting Commissioner of the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Mark A. Morgan, said in a statement, in what he described as " rumors circulating 'about the formation of a new contingent.

Morgan said that the route is dangerous and puts the inhabitants of the United States and other countries at risk, due to covid-19.

He indicated that the US authorities will work with their counterparts in Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Belize, and that "groups of migrant caravans will not be allowed to move north in violation of sovereignty, current public health orders and the immigration laws of the respective nations throughout the region.

• MIRA: Guatemala reports requirements to enter the country in the face of a possible migrant caravan

He added that "this commitment is not affected by a change of government in the United States."

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Morgan also said that the journey "is a deadly journey" and that in fiscal year 2020 alone - which ended last September - the Border Patrol recovered more than 250 bodies of immigrants who died along the border between the United States and the United States. Mexico.

The Honduran Ministry of Foreign Affairs told CNN last December that the only thing that the country's government can do in the face of this type of summons is to warn migrants about the risks to which they are exposed when trying to make the journey.

Credit: JOHAN ORDONEZ / AFP via Getty Images

New caravan rumors

Morgan's statement comes after weeks of rumors at the regional level about the formation of a migrant caravan, which could depart from Honduras on January 15, according to pages that invite the trip on social networks.

This Saturday, one of these pages invited people to join.

"Let's organize the next caravan, since it would benefit us in time and climate, together we can achieve it with faith in our God," says a group on Facebook.

According to the invitation, the contingent would leave San Pedro Sula, in northern Honduras.

As in the past, these calls do not have visible organizers or people who are responsible for the calls.

Rumors of a possible new caravan have made countries like Guatemala already prepare for it.

This Friday, government authorities met with members of international agencies and diplomatic representatives to develop a care plan for the group.

On Wednesday, the Guatemalan Migration Institute released a list of requirements that must be submitted by people who want to enter the country, including a PCR test or negative covid-19 antigen, passport or valid identification document and that the minors must be accompanied by their parents.

In October 2020, a caravan that tried to reach the United States from Honduras was dismantled by Guatemalan security forces, after Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei ordered the authorities to block them and return them to their countries.

migrant caravan