 For more videos on people's struggles, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. A caravan of more than 1,000 Honduran migrants was brutally repressed by the Guatemalan military and police forces on January 17th. A migrant caravan, which is on its way to the United States, has to pass to Guatemala and Mexico first in order to reach the U.S. Both Guatemala and Mexico have signed the Safe Third Country Immigration Agreement with the U.S. under threat of economic sanctions. They have taken measures to stop the passage of migrants to their territories. Warnings were issued by Guatemalan authorities that migrant caravans would not be allowed to the country. According to the Guatemalan national police, between 6,000 and 9,000 people have entered the country since January 15th, making it one of the biggest caravans since 2018. The Guatemalan Migration Institute reported that between January 15th and 16th, around 1,000 immigrants were arrested and deported to Honduras by immigration and security officials. So what has bought thousands of Honduran migrants to leave their homes? Honduran migrants including women, men and children have set off on this perilous 4,000 kilometer long journey on foot to the U.S. with the hope to apply for humanitarian asylum there. Ever since the ousting of Manuel Zelaya in 2009 in the U.S. backed coup, things have gone from bad to worse in the country. More than 60% of the country lives in poverty and the unemployment rates are soaring. The migrants seek to escape extreme poverty, violence, unemployment, lack of education and health within the country which has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The devastation caused by the Eta and Ayurveda hurricanes, which struck Central American countries in November 2020, have also made people's lives miserable. Most of the people who have joined this migrant caravan say that they have nothing to return to. Some migrants have also stated that the U.S. is a root cause of their problems and it is on the U.S. now to take care of the migrants. Where are the migrants now? Thousands of Hondurans who left their country last week in different phases on January 13, 15th and 16th, from the city of San Pedro Sula, remain stranded in Vado Hondo, in the northeast of Guatemala, and are fighting the authorities to let them continue on their way to the U.S. Mexico. The security forces maintain barriers along the Chitimula department to prevent the migrants from advancing. More than 20 military and police checkpoints have been placed on the highway that would lead the migrants from their current location to the border with Mexico. How has the United States reacted? The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has adopted a hostile policy against these caravans and imposed harsh restrictions against undocumented migrants. Migrants are hoping that the situation would change after President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated on January 20th. Biden promised to reverse Trump's strict immigration policies and rebuild asylum processes. However, the possibility of allowing the arriving asylum seekers to enter the U.S. has already been rejected by Biden's transition team officials.