As Joe Biden's inauguration nears, thousands of migrants from Honduras head for US

Washington/ Tegucigalpa: – President-elect Joe Biden will be taking his oath as President of the United States in the next week. While the preparations are going on in the United States for the ceremony, indications are that thousands of immigrants from the Central American country of Honduras have started their march towards the US border. For two successive years, 2018 and 2019, immigrants from Honduras and Mexico attempted intrusion into the United States. But President Trump, adopting a tough stand, foiled all these intrusion attempts. However, as President-elect Joe Biden has indicated to have a softer perspective on immigrants, a possibility of new immigrant influx into the United States is being predicted. The information has been received that 3,000 immigrants have left for the United States from the San Pedro Sula region in Honduras. In November, Honduras was ravaged by two successive cyclones. Following that, the Coronavirus pandemic is playing havoc, and therefore, the immigrants are saying that they are trying to go to the United States for a better future. Before reaching the US border, these immigrants will have to pass through Guatemala and Mexico.

Many countries have imposed stringent controls in the view of the Coronavirus pandemic, and similar restrictions are in place even in Guatemala and Mexico. Therefore, it is believed that the immigrant group will be intercepted in one of these countries. In 2019, the United States signed security agreements with these countries, and the deal has provisions for stopping immigrant influx and criminal gangs. Therefore, these countries have a legal responsibility for halting the immigrant influx. A group of thousands of immigrants marching towards the US border, despite this, is significant.

It is said that the change of guard in the United States and the stand of President-elect Biden regarding immigrants is responsible for these immigrant attempts of intrusion. Biden and the Democrat party have always been soft regarding the immigrants coming to the United States and have made laws and provisions for their protection. It was reported only last month that Biden’s team started moves to award ‘Temporary Protected Status’ to thousands of illegal immigrants from Honduras and Guatemala, living in the United States.

Current President Donald Trump had started the process of deporting illegal immigrants during his tenure. At the same time, he started the work on the Mexico Border Wall and tried to curtail immigrant influx by deploying additional forces on the border. But as per some analysts, taking cognisance of the fact that the stand of the US administration may change following the change of guard, the governments of Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico may allow these immigrants to pass.

During his State of Union speech in 2019, President Trump had warned that the immigrant influx through the southern border is a national security threat.