A migrant caravan that set off from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on 20 September crossed into Mexico and was travelling north towards the US border. The US Department of Homeland Security said Border Patrol was monitoring the group with international partners and warned that people entering the country illegally would be apprehended, prosecuted and removed.

The caravan numbered in the hundreds as of Monday and included mainly Hondurans, Guatemalans, Salvadorans, Ecuadorians and Haitians. Some migrants said they were seeking better economic prospects; Honduran José Zelaya, travelling with seven relatives, said hunger and hardship were driving the journey and that the group had no organised leadership. The report places the movement amid a midterm election debate in which the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has been a prominent issue.