Biden official tells Honduran migrants: Don’t believe “lie” that US border is open

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – An official from the incoming Biden administration has told a caravan comprising thousands of Honduran migrants traveling to the US that they should not believe the “lie” that the United States border will be open next month, Reuters reports. While it is known that President-elect Joe Biden plans to reverse much of outgoing president Trump’s crackdown on immigration, the official said it will “take time” to implement the new policies.

A caravan of between 7,000-8,000 migrants, including families with little children, has been making its way to the US in an effort to escape poverty and violence in Honduras: the already impoverished Central American country has been further devastated by the pandemic and by recent hurricanes, Reuters reports.

On Friday the caravan reached Guatemala, where authorities had buses and trucks prepared to take any volunteers back home, Reuters reports. On Sunday, however, Guatemalan security forces used sticks and tear gas to beat the migrants back. “They keep trying to pass, but we’re not allowing them to,” said Alejandra Mena, a spokeswoman for Guatemala’s immigration agency said in a statement.

The migrants’ journey comes days before the inauguration of a new US president who plans to take a much softer approach to immigration than his predecessor has. Among other things, the president-elect has said he will set out “a clear roadmap to citizenship” for some 11 million illegal immigrants living in the US, Reuters said. Biden has also stated he plans to give permanent protection for young migrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, known as “Dreamers.” Moreover, Biden plans to raise the yearly quota of refugees allowed to settle in the US from the historic low of 15,000 allowed by Trump to 125,000.

However, a Biden official warned the approaching caravan that there is no green light for the migrants to enter the US at this stage. “Overcoming the challenges created by the chaotic and cruel policies of the last four years, and those presented by COVID-19, will take time,” the official said. “In the meantime, the journey to the United States remains extraordinarily dangerous, and those in the region should not believe anyone peddling the lie that our border will be open to everyone next month.”

Latest Worthy News