Catastrophic weather is one factor driving Guatemalan migrants to the U S

Published Apr 06 2021 at 5:18 AM GMT

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Poverty, crime, and violence are just some of the reasons thousands of Guatemalans are fleeing the country every month, hoping to make it across the U S' southern border.
With extreme weather causing catastrophic flooding and other destruction, climate change is also increasingly motivating people to leave.
More than 64,000 Guatemalans have been apprehended at the southern border this fiscal year, US Customs and Border Protection said, including thousands of unaccompanied minors.
CBS News' Manuel Bojorquez traveled to the village of Campur, Guatemala, to talk to people who have friends, relatives, and acquaintances who left for the US — as well as others who plan on making the trek north themselves.
Last fall, back-to-back Hurricanes Eta and Iota battered Campur, leaving the village underwater for several weeks and displacing more than 300,000 Guatemalans.