Honduras migrant caravan begins journey to U.S. border
Central and South American migrants make their way to the U.S. border in hopes of reaching it before President-elect Donald Trump takes office Jan. 20, 2024.
Hundreds of migrants are traveling in a caravan through Mexico in hopes of reaching the U.S. southern border before President-elect Donald Trump takes office Jan. 20 and ushers in tougher immigration policies that could make it more difficult to enter the country.
The latest migrant caravan estimated to be about 1,500 people departed from the southern Mexican state of Chiapas near the Mexico-Guatemala border on Jan. 2, and is made up mostly of migrants from Central and South America, according to Salvadoran and Mexican news outlets.
It’s unlikely, however, that the group will reach the U.S. border because other recent migrant caravans have been broken up along the 2,000-mile journey through Mexico by Mexican immigration and security authorities under pressure from the U.S.
Several caravans that departed from the same part of Mexico around the time of the U.S. presidential election in November dissipated before reaching the United States, according to news reports.
Here’s what we know about the latest migrant caravan and previous caravans.
Caravan head to US before presidential transition
The caravan was prompted by tougher immigration policies expected under the next Trump administration, according to Salvadoran and Mexican news outlets.
Trump, who will be inaugurated Jan. 20 as the 47th president, won a second term in office in part by promising to secure the southern border and carry out mass deportations. Trump said during a visit to Phoenix in December that he would put a “stop to illegal immigration.”
Under the Biden administration, record numbers of migrants fleeing violence, political upheaval, persecution and poverty have arrived at the southern border seeking asylum and better opportunities in the United States.
U.S. border authorities made about 8.4 million migrant encounters under the Biden administration. The Migration Policy Institute estimates an unprecedented 5.8 million migrants and asylum seekers were released into the U.S. under the Biden administration after being apprehended by U.S. border authorities.
The latest migrant caravan started the journey northward on Thursday, Jan. 2, and was tracked in the southern Mexican cities of Tapachula and Huehuetán, near the border with Guatemala, according to Azteca Noticias.
Reporters with the news outlet reported seeing hundreds of people sleeping on the ground early Thursday morning before departing on their journey.
On Friday, the caravan was seen in a video farther north in the town of Huixtla, in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas, still more than 2,000 miles from the Arizona border.
On Monday evening, another caravan appeared headed for the U.S., this time out of Honduras, according to TSiHonduras on social platform X.
Migrants have been traveling in groups for years. But in 2018 migrants began forming larger caravans as a form of protection against criminal organizations that prey on migrants and charge money to help them reach the U.S.
Migrants aided by advocacy groups also began traveling in large caravans as a way of calling attention to the plight of people forced to migrate because of conditions in their own countries and the dangers they face during the long journey to the U.S.
Migrants who travel in caravans usually walk on foot, or hop on the backs of flatbed trucks or ride atop freight trains.
Migrant caravans appeared in 2021 and 2018
In 2021, a large caravan estimated to number about 1,200, headed to the U.S., and clashed along the way with members of the Mexican National Guard who attempted to block their passage, according to reports from The Arizona Republic.
In 2020, a large caravan estimated at about 4,000 migrants originated in Honduras and was headed to the U.S. when migrants clashed with Mexican authorities while trying to cross a bridge from Guatemala into Mexico.
In 2018, under the first Trump administration, the president ordered the deployment of more than 5,000 active duty troops, in addition to more than 2,000 National Guard troops, to assist the Border Patrol in response to migrant caravans arriving at the southern border.
After Trump won the 2024 presidential election, he sought to push Mexico to do more to stop migrants from traveling through Mexico to the U.S. and newly elected President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum has said she is open to conversations.
Her predecessor, Andres Lopez Obrador, cooperated with the U.S. by using Mexican National Guard troops and immigration officers to block migrants and caravans traveling through Mexico to reach the U.S.
US border officials comment on newest caravan
A spokesperson for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection acknowledged the 2025 caravan and said the agency was ready to deal with an increase of migrant encounters at the southern U.S. border.
“We are aware of recent reports of a migrant caravan that has materialized in Southern Mexico, as we hear about several times per year,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
CBP said migrant caravans were known for their slow travel, often dissipating before reaching the U.S. border.
“CBP will continue to monitor developments in coordination with our foreign and interagency counterparts as we have with previous movements of migrants,” the statement added.
The Biden administration implemented a policy in 2024 that bans migrants who cross the border illegally from seeking asylum, except in exceptional circumstances. Migrants who cross illegally including asylum seekers also face additional penalties under the policy.
Border Patrol encounters of migrants have dropped significantly as a result of the policy, data shows.
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Publish date : 2025-01-08 00:01:00
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