On Monday, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei declared a “state of prevention” at the Guatemala-Honduras border as new reports emerged about a potential migrant caravan getting ready to come to the country from Honduras.
The Associated Press reports,
The emergency decree would restrict open-air gatherings and demonstrations without permits, and will be in effect for two weeks in the five Guatemalan provinces along the border with Honduras.
The government justified the restrictions in a statement, saying “groups of people could put at risk the life, liberty, security, health, access to justice, peace and development” of Guatemalans.
In January, Guatemala reportedly took a similar step and put forth a decree in order to impede a different caravan, stressing that the caravan posed a risk to public health in Guatemala during a pandemic.
AP reports that in January, Guatemalan law enforcement and military personnel used tear gas, batons and shields in order to prohibit a mass of around 2,000 Honduran migrants from continuing at a roadblock.
“Several caravans of mainly Honduran migrants have tried to cross Guatemala and Mexico to reach the U.S. border, though none has succeeded since 2019,” according to the outlet.
According to data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection published by the Pew Research Center, “U.S. Border Patrol apprehended nearly 100,000 migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in February, the tenth consecutive month of increased apprehensions and a return to levels last seen in mid-2019.”
Pew Research Center reports, “Mexican migrants are accounting for a greater share of apprehensions than in the recent past, while Central Americans represent a smaller proportion. Around four-in-ten (42%) of those apprehended at the southwestern border in February were people of Mexican origin, up from 13% in May 2019, the most recent peak month for monthly apprehensions. People from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras accounted for 46% of apprehensions in February, down from 78% in May 2019.”
Attention has been focused on the conditions of child migrant facilities at the United States’ southern border with Mexico and the high numbers of unaccompanied minors coming to the U.S. The numbers are expected to continue to rise, as well.
The Daily Wire reports that on Monday,
…Axios reported Customs and Border Protection, which is currently handling the border crisis, believes the numbers are only going to increase, and the overcrowding situation at the border is only going to get worse.
“The Biden administration projects the number of unaccompanied children crossing the border could spiral from more than 16,000 this month to as many as 26,000 in September,” the outlet noted, based on documents leaked to Axios reporters. “The Customs and Border Protection range for September is 22,000 to 26,000. Under any scenario, projections include a peak month that would double the record that stood until this month.”
“To give a sense of how out of hand the crossings are getting,” Axios continued, “the administration projected just a month ago the figure for May would be 13,000. The new estimate is 22,000 to 25,000.”
For migrants, the journey to the United States contains a high risk of danger and potential death, especially for young children who might be traveling alone. The Daily Wire reported last week that a 9-year-old girl drowned while trying to get to the U.S. by way of the Rio Grande River.