Trump warns Honduran president to stop migrants en route to U.S.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. President Donald Trump warned his Honduran counterpart on Tuesday that he must stop a caravan of thousands of migrants that left his country over the weekend, bound for the United States.

Trump said in a tweet that he had told Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández that if the migrants are not returned to Honduras, the United States will cease all aid to Honduras, effective immediately.

The group of more than 2,000 Hondurans began their journey in San Pedro Sula, 180 north of Tegucigalpa, headed for the Guatemalan border. The trip to the United States involves a 2,000-km route full of obstacles and dangers.

Rising violence in Central America has pushed entire families, and in some cases unaccompanied minors, to flee to the United States.

On Monday, Guatemalan authorities announced that they would prohibit the entry of the Honduran migrants if they do not comply with Guatemala’s entry requirements. The government of Mexico made a similar announcement.

More than one million Hondurans live in the United States, most of them undocumented. Last year they added $4 billion dollars to the economy of Honduras – 20 percent of GDP – via remittances sent home to their families.