The word 'migrant caravan' is used to describe a group of thousand of Central American migrants on their way to the United States. The term plays down their need.

 
It is the twenty-second day of the migrant caravan, and it is scheduled to reach the US border in one month.Starting with 160 people from a bus station in Honduras, the caravan amassed to several thousand people after the news went viral online. Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Latin America, and according to the UN, it beats out its neighbours in only measure: its murder rate.It is the second highest in the world, and its neighbour, El Salvador, ranks first on the list. Hundreds of Salvadorans are a part of the caravan too.Food for political gain Attention on the migrant caravan's spread globally when US President Donald Trump's delivered a harsh response to it characterising it as,

"We will NOT let these Caravans, which are also made up of some very bad thugs and members into the U.S."

The stance taken by the US president was delivered within the context of the US midterm elections on November 6.Some believe the Republican Party stands to lose its majority in the House of Representatives which will obviously complicate things for President Trump. Trump's rhetoric to abolish birthright citizenship by an executive order illustrates his will to consolidate the Republican electorate within an anti-immigrant discourse. Furthermore, the president announced a "substantial" reduction in financial aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The governments and political leaders of three countries (El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala) had not "done enough" to stop the migrants heading towards the US border, the president said. Moreover, overall 15,000 troops could be sent to the Mexico-US border to stop the caravan from entering US soil.

So far only around 100 migrants turned back after Trump's tough talk, and 1,700 applied for work permission in Mexico.  This has been the case for a long time, which is why the "migra", as the mass emigration is known, is not a new phenomenon. About 7,000 people are estimated to be a part of it. They have crossed Central America and broken through the border between Guatemala and Mexico.What is new is that awareness surrounding the plight of these migrants is now spreading.

La caravana set off in Honduras after an appeal on 13 October, organised by a human rights lawyer.

Remittances from relatives in the diaspora are the main source of income for most of the families travelling on the caravan. 

 (With input from news agency language)

 

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