Some were turned away and others detained.

But on Tuesday (January 15), several hundred Honduran migrants passed through the border with Guatemala in Agua Caliente.

They're a new caravan of migrants making its way to the U.S. border.

(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FRANCISCO MENCIA, REPRESENTATIVE OF MIGRANT AFFAIRS WITH THE CIPRODEH HUMAN RIGHTS RESEARCH CENTRE, SAYING: "We see boys, girls, elderly people, people with specific needs in each group we see migrate.

They flee from violence, from displacements seen in our country." U.S. President Donald Trump has seized on news of the caravan to pressure lawmakers over a border wall with Mexico.

Saying, "Only a wall will work, only a wall, or steel barrier, will keep our country safe".

Funding for a border wall has been the main point of contention in a heated debate over immigration policy.

It's led to a partial government shutdown now in its 25th day.

This new caravan will likely have weeks of travel ahead of them before they reach the U.S. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) HONDURAN MIGRANT, CARLOS AYALA, SAYING: "I hope that they'll let us go through, because we're not doing anything wrong.

We're going because we're looking for a better future for our families." Hundreds more migrants were expected to reach the Agua Caliente border on Tuesday night, while a smaller group is waiting to join the caravan in El Salvador.

But the head of Mexico's migration authority said many in the caravan have been misinformed about the likelihood of entering the U.S. A previous wave of about 2,500 Central Americans have been camped in shelters in the Mexican border city of Tijuana.

In a statement on Twitter, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said: "Participation in a caravan does not grant you a special status or provide you with special treatment".

The Pentagon also announced on Monday (January 14), it would extend the deployment of more than 2,000 troops to the U.S. - Mexico border until the end of September.