More than 1,000 people, including families and women carrying babies, have set off from Honduras towards the United States in a mass migration march.

Recent attempts at group crossings from Central American to the U.S. have tested PresidentDonald Trump's 'zero tolerance' stance on illegal immigration, as people fleeing violence and poverty defy threats of deportation.

Some 1,300 people joined the so-called 'March of the Migrant' on Saturday - just days after the U.S. urged Honduras' president to halt mass migration.

Some 1,300 people joined the so-called 'March of the Migrant' on Saturday from Honduras to the United States

Hondurans walk towards the US from San Pedro Sula, 180 kms north from Tegucigalpa, on Saturday after deciding to leave their country due to insecurity

The group plan to walk from San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras through Guatemala and into Mexico.

Once in Mexico, they plan to request refugee status to remain in the country or a visa to pass through to the U.S. border, organizer Bartolo Fuentes said.

'I believe we'll get to the United States. There's no work in Honduras, and you live in fear that they're going to kill you or your children,' said Fanny Barahona, 35, an unemployed teacher who walked with her nine-year-old son and carried a two-year-old daughter.

In April, media attention on a similar group of migrants, dubbed a 'caravan,' prompted Trump to press for tougher border security and demand such groups be refused entry.

Most in the caravan said they were fleeing death threats, extortion and violence from powerful street gangs.

The exodus started from the bus terminal in San Pedro Sula with the crowd trekking towards the border with Guatemala

Hondurans pray while they start an exodus towards the US from San Pedro Sula on Saturday

Once in Mexico, they plan to request refugee status to remain in the country or a visa to pass through to the U.S. border

More than 64 percent of Honduran households live in poverty, and San Pedro Sula has one of the world's highest murder rates.

'There is no work and so much violence that you can get killed walking down the street,' said Javier Solis, 25, who said he has not found work in a year and wants to enter the United States. On a previous attempt, he was deported to Honduras upon reaching Mexico.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence met with the presidents of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador in Washington on Thursday and told them the United States would be willing to help with economic development and investment if they did more to tackle migration, corruption and gang violence.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said U.S. funding was declining, and he called on the United States to reunite migrant children with their parents after Washington's policy of separating families trying to cross the U.S.-Mexican border put Honduras under 'huge pressure.'

Among those making the trek were children being carried by their parents as families decided to leave due to insecurity and lack of employment opportunities

Some 1,300 people joined the so-called 'March of the Migrant' on Saturday - just days after the U.S. urged Honduras' president to halt mass migration