Thousands are walking to US border, away from the hunger and violence of Central America, seemingly unaware of the threats voiced by Donald Trump

Arely Orellana’s plan was a simple one: head north, until she and her two five-year-old grandsons could be reunited with her daughter somewhere in Houston.

All they had to do was keep walking for another 3,000 miles or so.

Orellana did not seem equipped for such an epic journey: her only luggage was a shoulder bag with a few clean clothes; on her feet, she wore a pair of ageing espadrilles.

But she said she had no choice: the boys’ father was murdered, and no one would employ a 65-year-old domestic worker. “I can’t feed them any more,” she said, gesturing at the two boys. “I’m too old. I can’t get a job.”

So she was heading to Texas to be reunited with her daughter, who migrated from their home in northern Honduras three years ago in search of work. She had written her daughter’s phone number on her hand so she wouldn’t lose it.

More than 2,000 people fleeing poverty and violence have joined the convoy of migrants travelling en masse through Central America, walking along the roadside with strollers and wheelchairs or hitching rides on pickup trucks and buses.

Five days after they set off from the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, they have already crossed much of neighbouring Guatemala. And despite growing fatigue, many said they were determined to reach the United States and ask for asylum.

Few seemed aware of Donald Trump’s threat to deploy the military to stop them – or of Mexico’s warning that anyone who enters the country in an “irregular manner” faces detention and deportation.

On Wednesday, Mexico’s government sent two planeloads of federal forces to the border city of Tapachula, some of the operatives equipped with riot gear. The deployment suggested that Mexico will not allow the caravan to head north together as it did with a similar group in April – infuriating Trump.

Most of the migrants said they were trying to escape the biting poverty and breathtaking violence which has turned Central America into one of the most dangerous regions in the world

Luz Abigail, 34, was traveling with her one-year-old son. “It’s so hard to hear my boy say ‘Mami, I’m hungry’ – and know that I only have enough money to buy him a juice box,” she says.

One of the few unaccompanied children with the group was Mario David, 12, who left his home in Honduras because his family has no money. “And the little money we have gets stolen by the gangs,” he said.

Mario said he hoped to reach the US and get an education and a job. What would he study? “Anything – as long as I can make a good buck,” he laughed.

Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the region, and has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Violence and drug-trafficking worsened after a 2009 coup – when the Honduran army overthrew the democratically elected president, Manuel Zelaya, and disputed elections last year sparked further turmoil.x

A year after the coup, 490,000 Honduras left their country, according to the Pew Research Center. In 2017 that number rose to 600,000.

The caravan began last Friday when former congressman Bartolo Fuentes announced on local media that he would join a group of 200 people from San Pedro Sula on their way to the US.

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The group quickly snowballed as people calculated that a large group would protect them during the dangerous passage through Mexico, where migrants are often targeted for rape, robbery and kidnapping.

Guatemala originally said the migrants would not be allowed to enter from Honduras, but after a standoff with police, the group simply kept on walking – although Fuentes was arrested by Guatemalan authorities and has been the subject of online smear campaigns in Honduras.

On Wednesday, Trump’s ambassador to Guatemala posted a video on Facebook warning migrants against trying to enter the US illegally. “If you try to enter the United States, you will be detained and deported,” he wrote in Spanish. “Return to your country. Your attempt to migrate will fail.”

But Mexico said that any Honduran migrant with a valid passport and visa will be allowed in, and that those seeking refuge would be able to begin their process if they meet the requirements placed by the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance and the UN high commissioner for refugees.

Most of the migrants spent Wednesday night in Guatemala City, where humanitarian groups organised food, clothing, shelter and medical assistance, while firefighters and the Red Cross gave out medicine and treated blistered feet.

Coordinators said they were planning to reach the Mexican border by Thursday night.

“We are well aware of the countries’ policies and recent statements, but people won’t stop. We can’t stop,” said José Luis Carmera, the coordinator of migrants from the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.

“The Guatemalan border was closed, but we opened it peacefully, and by doing so we cleared the first obstacle. Now we must open the Mexican border. We’re taking it one step at a time.”



