Caravans formed regularly in Honduras prior to the pandemic, though Mexico had started deploying its national guard to impede large groups of migrants from transiting the country.
“Asylum on the border is pretty much impossible,” a legal advocate with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, said. “Covid is being used as an excuse to close the border.”
Auxiliary Bishop Mario Dorsonville, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration: “We are reminded that regardless of our background, we are all built in the image of God and should be treated as such.”
Pompeo visited sites aiding the Venezuelans in northern-most Roraima state, where many refugees have landed. Since 2015, more than 260,000 Venezuelans have crossed the border into Brazil.