For 2,500 Hondurans in Caravan, Going Home is Not an Option

(Photo : Reuters)

2,500 Hondurans, as well as dozens of Nicaraguans, Guatemalans, and Salvadorans, said that going home is not an option, according to a report from Remezcla.

It has been days since the caravan from Central America arrived in Mexico that led to a clash with the National Guard. Immigrants and asylum seekers who are stranded in the border are considering all their options. However, according to an immigration report from La Prensa, for the 2stranded 2,500 Hondurans, dozens of Nicaraguans, Guatemalans, and Salvadorans said that going back to their countries is not part of the option.

A Honduran immigrant told a local news outlet, "We came in the caravan, and they didn't let it pass," However, only a few were able to successfully cross the Suchiate River. 

Moreover, the Mexican authorities closed a section of their border on Saturday following the arrival of the caravan who want to cross the bridge through the Suchiate River. More than 2,500 migrants who joined the caravan of all ages were all held up and were also prevented from crossing the bridge by Mexican National Guardsmen.

Mexican authorities said that they allowed dozens of migrants to enter into Mexico in groups of 20. However, they also warned those people who wanted to slip away to avoid the immigration process. Subsequently, Mexico's National Migration Institute posted on its Twitter that they supported the southern border to assure safe, orderly, and regular immigration.

Meanwhile, the administration of President Donal Trump announced in November that it had started to send migrants from Honduras and El Salvador to Guatemala as part of its agreement called as "safe third country," Trump claimed that the deal or agreement would help the immigration crisis at the southern U.S. border. 

However, despite the efforts of Trump's administration, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) mounted a legal challenge against the agreement. They claimed that it violated federal law. They added that Guatemala does not meet the standard of full and fair procedure for asylum.

Katrina Eiland, a lawyer from ACLU Immigrant Rights Project, said: "The Trump administration has created a deadly game of musical chairs that leaves desperate refugees without a safe haven, in violation of U.S. and international law and the administration is illegally trying to turn away asylum seekers and pass the buck to other countries that can't protect them."

Meanwhile, the federal government claimed that they began sending migrants to Guatemala because they meet the "full and fair" standard. It can also be recalled that the officials of the Department of Homeland Security said that migrants were not forced to go to Guatemala but instead they were also given an option either to go home in their country or stay in Mexico while waiting for the result of their asylum or immigration application.

Mexican officials vow that they will remain on high alert and will help block hundreds of migrants who are mostly Hondurans hoping to reach the land of the United States. It can be remembered the previous caravan of migrants had an overwhelming effect on the immigration system of the country.

Itsmania Platero, a human rights activist, said: "The truth is, it is going to be impossible for them to reach the United States and the Mexican police have a large contingent and they are going to catch all the migrants without documents, and they will be detained and returned to their home countries."