Several hundred Honduran migrants, many carrying young children, have set out in a caravan for the country’s border with Guatemala, hoping to reach the United States.

Some of those who gathered at the San Pedro Sula bus station said they cannot support their families with what they can earn in Honduras and are seeking better opportunities.

Most boarded buses before dawn that would carry them to towns on the Guatemalan border.

A man carries a child on his shoulders as part of the Honduras migrant caravan
A man carries a child on his shoulders (Delmer Martinez/AP)

Others walked through the rain, some pushing prams or carrying sleeping children in their arms.

Nohemy Reyes, who waited at the bus station with one of her five children sleeping on the floor beside her, said her country’s economic struggles are driving her north.

“The economic situation is very difficult,” she said.

But if she finds the US border closed, she said, she will return to Honduras.

US President Donald Trump this week threatened to close the US-Mexico border, before changing course and threatening tariffs on vehicles produced in Mexico if the country does not stop the flow of Central American migrants.

Migrants walk along a road in Honduras as a new caravan of several hundred people sets off in the hope of reaching the US
The migrants hope to reach the US (Delmer Martinez/AP)

US border facilities have been overwhelmed by the number of migrant families.

US Customs and Border Protection announced this week that 53,000 parents and children were apprehended at the southern border in March.

Department of Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned this week and was replaced by US Customs and Border Protection commissioner Kevin McAleenan in an acting capacity.

Mr Trump on Tuesday said he is not planning on reinstating his controversial family separation policy.

Migrants planning to join a new caravan in Honduras hoping to reach the US
Hundreds are joining the migrant caravan (Delmer Martinez/AP)

Last summer, more than 2,500 children were separated from their families before a judge ordered them reunited.

Miguel Angel Reyes, of San Juan Pueblo, Honduras, said his country’s violent crime was one factor in his decision to leave, but mostly he was looking for a way to provide for his wife and four children.

“I’m going because the situation is really hard here in Honduras,” said the field worker.

“We can’t take it anymore. There’s a lot of suffering, no work.”