Another Migrant Caravan Is Making Its Way to The U.S With An Estimated 4,000 People

For the second time this year, thousands of Hondurans are fleeing their country and walking to the United States aiming for asylum. Late last week the group began their trek from the northern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, according to the New York Times. Various reports say the group consists of more than 2,000 people, while NBC News reports that the mass is now an estimated 4,000.

Just six months ago, thousands of Central American migrants — many of them from Honduras as well — walked for weeks toward the U.S/Mexico border. Eventually that number dwindled to a couple of hundreds of migrants that went on to ask for asylum. Back then the number of people in the caravan was about 1,000, according to CNN. So this new caravan seems to be much larger.

Of course, President Donald Trump had a thing or two to say about this new caravan. In a tweet, he said: “The United States has strongly informed the President of Honduras that if the large Caravan of people heading to the U.S. is not stopped and brought back to Honduras, no more money or aid will be given to Honduras, effective immediately!” CNN reports that Honduras “is set to receive more than $65 million in foreign aid from the United States in the 2019 fiscal year.”

The Honduran caravan consists of families and children and individuals trying to escape violence and poverty in their home country. For Henry Tejeda, one of those people traveling, he left his wife and children, in order to escape the violence after his mother was murdered and brother was shot.

“I am carrying the documents to prove I’m not lying,” Tejeda said, according to the Associated Press. “I want to seek political asylum (in the United States) and help my family.”

According to the Washington Post, if any of these migrants actually get to the U.S/Mexico border and cross over they will contribute to the record amount of migrants attempting to enter the U.S. The Post reports that “Border Patrol agents arrested 16,658 family members in September, the highest one-month total on record and an 80 percent increase from July.”