Thousands of Migrants from Honduras Heading to the US

 Just days before taking office, President-Elect Joseph R. Biden’s administration will be forced to make a decision on how his administration plans to tackle the issue of migrants from South America.

According to the Voice of America, close to 9,000 Honduran migrants are traveling thousands of miles to Guatemala, and Mexico to get to the United States. These migrants are taking a long and difficult journey to reach the United States to escape drug violence, poverty, and the natural disaster that hit the region last year.

Reports gathered from sources in the region say that some of the migrants are traveling by foot and include women and children. The government of Guatemala has called on its neighbor; the Honduran government, to implement measures that help stop its people from leaving Honduras in such large numbers.

The governments of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico said that they are willing to work together to help stop migrants from crossing through their countries. Additionally, the Mexican government said that it is in contact with the new administration to design a strategy on how to address the migrant issue.

The issue of immigration has been a big point of contention between Democrats and Republicans and outgoing president Trump has made this one of the signature issues during his presidency. President Trump has started construction on the Southern Wall to stop the flood of migrants from that area. He has also issued executive orders banning people from some predominantly muslin countries, a move that Democrats have fearlessly criticized, and president-elect Biden is planning to overturn through his own executive order on day one of the presidency.

However, the way Mr. Biden approaches the migrant issue will set the tone for his first term as president on the issue of immigration. The construction of the wall is ongoing and as indicated earlier, the democrats have to either decide to continue building the wall to not be seen as weak on immigration or been seen as encouraging open border when they terminate work on the border wall.

Some immigration experts suggest that the incoming administration continue with the construction work on the border but allocate resources to governments in South America especially countries where these migrants are fleeing to address the underlying issues that are causing the people to leave these countries.