Guatemala activates control alert before possible arrival of migrant caravan from Honduras

The Guatemalan immigration authorities activated an alert this Friday to increase surveillance and control in the border areas with Honduras, due to the possible arrival of a migrant caravan.

The Guatemalan Institute of Migration reported in a statement that the alert occurred after Honduran authorities detailed that in San Pedro Sula some 84 people gathered to mobilize heading to Guatemala.

“The emergency plan that was activated consists of increasing surveillance and controls in the border area with Honduras,” the communication director of the Guatemalan Institute of Migration, Alejandra, explained to Efe Mena.

“We are in coordination with the National Civil Police and with the Ministry of Defense,” added Mena.

Although the specific customs post through which the caravan may try to enter Guatemala is unknown, the authorities increased surveillance and n the border posts of the departments (provinces) of Jutiapa, Chiquimula and Izabal.

Unlike the first caravans of this type, which began to leave in 2018, in the last 2 years the Guatemalan security forces have detained and dispersed migrants in various ways.

The objective of the migrants is to cross Guatemala and Mexico, approximately a journey of more than 3, kilometers, to later arrive in the United States in search of better living conditions.

Last January, the Guatemalan authorities broke up a small caravan made up of 300 people, all deported to their countries of origin.

According to the Guatemalan Migration Institute, Honduran, Salvadoran and Nicaraguans with a valid identification document can enter the Central American country without inconvenience, as long as it is through an ad ana and not through blind spots.

Deportations of Hondurans from the United States and Mexico rose by 84.4% during the first semester of 2022 compared to the previous year, according to data from the Honduran Consular and Migratory Observatory.