TEGUCIGALPA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) - Honduran authorities on Friday announced they have reinforced their border with Guatemala following the exodus of thousands of Hondurans in a "migrant caravan" towards the United States.

A Honduran migrant heading in a caravan to the US, holds a Honduran national flag at the gate of the Guatemala-Mexico international border bridge in Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas state, Mexico, on October 19, 2018. (Photo: VCG)

Carlos Cordero, deputy director of the National Migration Institute (INM), told international press that hundreds of military and police were involved in the fortification efforts.

"No one is being prevented from passing through but migration controls into Guatemala are being tightened," he said.

The first caravan of around 1,200 people left San Pedro Sula, a city in the north of Honduras, on Oct. 13. In the following days, migrants from various cities in the country joined the group.

The group has crossed El Salvador, Guatemala and arrived at the Mexican border on Friday.

Mexican president-elect, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who takes office on Dec. 1, has said he will analyze granting working visas to migrants.

Police on the Honduras-Guatemala border have now been equipped with bulletproof vests, shields, wooden sticks and tear gas bombs.

One of the caravan's organizers, Bartolo Fuentes, was detained in Guatemala on Tuesday and returned to Honduras.