By: EFE 08 from January 2021
Acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Mark Morgan, urged those who are considering joining a possible new mass migrant caravan from Honduras to not to “waste your time and money, and not put your safety and health at risk,” in a statement released this Friday by the agency.
“The dangerous trip puts you at risk of suffer harm and at the same time endanger the lives and health of people in the United States and the countries of the region due to the potential spread of covid- 19 “, alerted Morgan in his “clear and firm message” to migrants.
He noted that The United States is united with its “partners” in Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize and the rest of the region in the “commitment to the State of law and the s public avalanche. ”
“ This commitment will not be affected by a change of Administration in the United States. Migrant groups will not be allowed to move north in violation of sovereignty, current public health orders, and migration laws of the respective nations throughout the region. ” said.
The official emphasized that the journey of migrants “is lethal”, and indicated that the United States Border Patrol recovered more than 250 bodies along the border with Mexico last fiscal year.
“Last week alone we recorded two deaths, when human smugglers abandoned dozens of migrants in a winter storm that dumped two feet of snow near Big Bend, Texas” He referred.
“These traffickers are reckless with human life, they do not care about the safety of migrants or the law. The covid – 19 increases the risk of their activities, not only for migrants but also for health workers, front-line officers and the communities through which migrants pass, ”he argued.
Finally, he said he was “proud to have the solidarity of friends and partners throughout the region who are committed to defending the rule of law, a safe, orderly and legal migration, and avoid a humanitarian and health crisis. ”
“ Our message is clear: if you enter a country illegally or violate the orders health authorities, they will face immediate action, including being returned home immediately, detained or prosecuted, “he said.
A new caravan of Hondurans, which would leave on 15 of January, is being promoted on social networks with the waiting start arriving in the United States when you have already assumed Joe Biden as the new US president on 20 January .
The caravan began to be promoted on January 1, despite the fact that at the end of October of 2020 two attempts from another two that left from San Pedro Sula, in the Honduran north. On that occasion, the few who managed to enter Guatemala could not pass from that country.
Migrants, as in other caravans, a modality that has been taking place since October de 2018, argue that they intend to leave their country due to lack of employment and violence, scourges that have been exacerbated by the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the effects of hurricanes Eta and Iota, which hit Central America last November.
Undocumented immigrants who cross Mexico to the United States are exposed to theft , extortions, kidnappings and even murders by criminal gangs, as well as abuses by corrupt authorities, according to official sources.