New caravan of Honduran migrants makes first border crossing

The diminished presence of the migrants in Tijuana came as hundreds of Hondurans left the violent city of San Pedro Sula this week in a new caravan hoping to reach the United States or Mexico.

Part of new US-bound migrant caravan crosses into Guatemala — Hondurans, part of a new caravan of migrants traveling to the United States, walk toward the Agua Caliente border checkpoint in Guatemala, in the municipality of Ocotepeque, Honduras January 15, 2019. (REUTERS)

The latest caravan of Honduran migrants hoping to reach the U.S. has crossed peacefully into Guatemala, under the watchful eyes of about 200 Guatemalan police and soldiers. About 500 people, including dozens of children, lined up to show their documents to a first line of unarmed security personnel at the Agua Caliente border crossing Tuesday night. Riot police formed a second line to contain any possible disturbance.

Edilberto Hernandez, a former police officer, stood with his wife and four children to cross into Guatemala. After losing his job, he could find only low-paid construction work, and he decided to travel with his whole family to the United States. “We are going out of necessity, because of the poverty,” Hernandez said.

The fate that awaits them at the Mexico-U.S. border is uncertain. The previous caravans that were seized upon last year by U.S. President Donald Trump in the run-up to the 2018 midterm election have quietly dwindled, with many having gone home to Central America or put down roots in Mexico.

Despite the hard-line immigration rhetoric by the Trump administration, many others _ nearly half, according to U.S. Border Patrol arrest records have sought to enter the U.S. illegally.

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Central American migrants arrive at US border in Mexico

Small groups of migrants that split off from the main caravan have already begun arriving in Tijuana, which sits across the border from San Diego, California. A group of 350 arrived Tuesday morning, many with small children.

About 6,000 Central Americans reached Tijuana in November amid conflict on both sides of the border over their presence in this Mexican city across from San Diego. As of Monday, fewer than 700 migrants remained at a former outdoor concert venue in Tijuana that the Mexican government set up as a shelter to house the immigrants.

Where have they all gone?

The U.S. Border Patrol has made about 2,600 caravan-related arrests in its San Diego sector, spokesman Theron Francisco said, indicating that nearly half have crossed into the U.S. illegally. Families are typically released with a notice to appear in immigration court.