Migrant Caravans Head to US Border
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Two ruinous hurricanes that wrecked and flooded swathes of Central America last month have increased the number of families planning a risky journey northward. And after a year of travel bans and soaring unemployment, demand to reach the U.S. was already high.
"There are going to be caravans, and in the coming weeks it will increase," said Jose Luis Gonzalez, coordinator of the Guatemala Red Jesuita con Migrantes, a non-governmental organization. "People are no longer scared of the coronavirus. They're going hungry, they've lost everything, and some towns are still flooded."
Joe Biden has pledged to abolish many of the migration policies of Donald Trump, including prolonged detention and separation of families, which were designed to deter illegal migration. This encourages more impoverished Central Americans to make the trip and test the Biden administration, said Gonzalez.
"When there is a change in government in the U.S. or Mexico, caravans start to move because they are testing the waters to see how authorities respond," he said. "What they see is that the one who said he was going to build a wall and hated Latinos is on his way out."
