The migrants have large dogs guarding it (8)
I believe the answer is:
settlers
'the migrants' is the definition.
(settler is a kind of migrant)
'large dogs guarding it' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'large' could be 'l' (eg in clothes sizes) and 'l' is located in the answer.
'dogs' could be 'setters' (setter is a kind of dog) and 'setters' is located in the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'have' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for settlers that I've seen before include "Immigrants" , "Trestles for pioneers" , "who pay their bills?" , "Colonists" , "Pioneers, homesteaders" .)