Guatemala Issues Emergency Decree To Halt New Migrant Caravan
Members of the Central American migrant caravan move to the next town at dawn on November 02, 2018 in Matias Romero, Mexico. The group of migrants, many of them fleeing violence in their home countries, last took a rest day on Wednesday and has resumed their journey towards the United States border. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Guatemala's President Alejandro Giammattei has declared a "state of prevention" along the country's border with Honduras following reports of a new migrant caravan forming in Honduras.

The emergency decree imposed by Giammattei on Monday would restrict open-air gatherings and demonstrations without permits. According to a U.S. News report, it would be in effect for two weeks in the five Guatemalan provinces along the border with Honduras.

In a statement, the Guatemalan government said, "groups of people could put at risk the life, liberty, security, health, access to justice, peace and development" of Guatemalans.

The country also issued the same emergency decree in January to block a previous migrant caravan, claiming that it would pose a public health risk amid the COVID pandemic.

Last January, over 8,000 Honduran migrants moved forward with their journey toward the U.S. border, hoping for a better life.

The caravan clashed with Guatemalan law enforcement for bypassing documentation checks and COVID-19 screening requirements to continue traveling in the country.

Guatemalan police and soldiers prepared a tear gas attack and brought batons and shields to stop thousands of Honduran migrants at a roadblock.

Guatemala and Mexico's Joint Effort

Mexico and Guatemala's governments have implemented a joint military-police operation at their common border to block the new migrant caravan hoping to enter the U.S.

The Biden administration had sent envoys to the two countries on Monday to seek the two countries' help as it struggles to control the increasing number of migrants going to the southern border.

"The criminal networks of human traffickers have sold them (the migrants) the illusion that they can reach the border with the United States without risk," Francisco Garduno, head of Mexico's National Migration Institute, said as Channel News Asia reported.

Garduno said they are strengthening their presence on the border, so children will not be used as a passport to enter the perimeter. He added that they would be surveilling the whole border, as well as highways and railways.

Guatemala's deputy foreign minister Eduardo Hernandez said the government is trying to persuade the migrants' home countries to discourage them from embarking on the trip. He said the best thing for all concerned is that the caravans would not be formed in the first place.

Unaccompanied Migrant Children

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents reported to have been housing more than 15,500 unaccompanied children in custody as of Mar. 21, BBC reported.

Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said these camps are not a place for a child. At least 5,000 children have been kept for over 72 hours, surpassing the legal limit which the children are meant to be transferred to the custody of health officials in the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

Meanwhile, Mayorkas blamed the pandemic restrictions and the abnormally cold weather in Texas for the delay in transferring the unaccompanied migrant children.

WATCH: Guatemala Forces Forcibly Disperse Honduran Migrant Caravan - From Al Jazeera English