Tuesday November 6, 2018
Serving the Rio Hondo Community
Families from Central America and Mexico migrate in hopes for a better life oppourtuntity in the U.S.
SABRINA TORRES Editor-in-Chief
sabrina.torres2387@my.riohondo.edu
On 12 October, in the crimeridden Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, a group of 160 people gathered at a bus terminal and prepared to set off on their dangerous journey. Their motives were to escape unemployment and the threat of violence in their home country. The Central American migrant caravans, are migrant caravans that set off from the Northern Triangle of Central America organized by Pueblo Sin Fronteras. The migrants are fleeing persecution, poverty and violence in their home countries located in Central America such as Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. The journey poses many dangers, such as dehydration and criminal gangs. However many of the migrants say they feel safer travelling in numbers. Most previous migrant caravans have numbered a few hundred people they tend to do them on Holy Week in the spring. One occured last year. Yet, after a former politician posted about the plan on Facebook, news of it quickly spread and the numbers of migrants increased. By the time the group set
off in the early hours of October 13, more than 1,000 Hondurans had joined by then. They have since crossed into neighbouring countries such as Guatemala next was Mexico, with thousands more people joining along the way. Those who were a head were a group of more than 400 consisting of men and boys, reached the Mexican capital, Mexico City on Sunday 4 November. Most of the migrants are
mostly by human traffickers and drug gangs who force them to work for them. Many took advantage of the chance to join the caravan to avoid the dangers of travelling alone and paying thousands of dollars to smugglers. These smugglers usually take the money and end up charging more. They also leave people to fend for themselves when border patrol comes close to catching them. Also, when they are attacked in the groups where the smugglers help them cross, they give
Volume 57 Issue 9
IMAGE VIA INTERNATIONAL NEWS
join the caravan. The hot weather means sunburn and dehydration are a constant risk. Many migrants do not have the appropriate attire to sustain them through the difficult migration. At least two migrants have lost their lives when they slipped from the vehicles they had boarded and were run over. The migrants have mainly been sleeping on the streets or in makeshift camps and there is a lack of clean water and sanitation. At times, food has been in short supply. As
“The migrants are fleeing persecution, poverty and violence in their home countries located in Central America such as Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.� seeking a new life and better opportunities in the US or Mexico. Others say they are fleeing violence in their home country and have intentions to apply for asylum. Honduras, which has a population of about nine million, has issues with gang violence, drug wars and corruption which has motivated their move. The wider region has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Migrants are kidnapped
people away to human traffickers or the drug gangs. There are more than one caravan moving north. The first and largest is the one that left San Pedro Sula on 13 October but two more have formed since and are following behind the first one. The main caravan is estimated to have 5,000 people, the two others have less. The journey is difficult poses a number of challenges for those who decide to
the caravan has made its way through, the towns they pass through have become more organised about providing shelter and food. There is a legal obligation to hear asylum claims from migrants who have arrived in the US if they say they fear violence in their home countries. Those seeking asylum must be fleeing due to a serious fear of persecution. Due to international law, these are considered refugees. If an asylum seeker enters the US illegally, they are still
entitled to a hearing of their claim. But those seeking a better quality of life - even if they are fleeing devastating poverty are not considered refugees and are not provided the same protections. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the "credible fear" asylum rule has been exploited in the past, and announced in June that victims of domestic abuse and gang violence would no longer generally qualify under it. This "Turn-back Policy" is currently subject to a lawsuit from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which accuses immigration officials of unlawfully delaying access to the asylum process. Trump has threatened to cut off foreign aid to these countries, but he has not specified what money will be cut and it is unknown how he would do so. Trump has said the "invasion" of migrants would find the US military waiting for them and, on October 29, it was announced that the US would send 5,200 troops to the border with Mexico to await the caravan. Trump also told Fox News that "tent cities" would be built to house migrants seeking asylum in the US.