Caribbean & Central America - November 2018
HONDURAS: US deportations soar, even as Caravan heads north
Almost 62,000 undocumented Hondurans have been deported out of the US to date this year, a sharp increase of 55% year on year. This is but the tip of the iceberg for the Honduran government, however. If the US Congress does not resolve the issue of the expiring Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Central American migrants, another 57,000 Hondurans resident in the US for 20 years will also face deportation as of 5 January 2020.
According to latest data from the Honduran Consular Network and Migration Observatory (CONMIGHO), between 1 January and 19 October US authorities deported 61,700 undocumented Honduras, an increase of almost 55% (54.7%) on the same year-earlier period. These stark data underline the vast sweep of undocumented migrants in the US being carried out under the administration led by US President Donald Trump. Honduran authorities estimate that there are 1m Hondurans in all living in the US, legally and illegally.
Like their countrymen and women benefitting from TPS, some of these undocumented migrants have already lived for years in the US, working and raising families – most of them far from the hardened criminals and violent gang members painted by President Trump. Others are recent arrivals, including some who fell prey to the family separation policy instituted by the US authorities earlier this year.
According to CONMIGHO, the US deported 23,940 Hondurans in the year to October, including 199 minors. The Mexican authorities – under sustained US pressure to stop illegal migration through its territory, before it reaches the Southern US border – has flown back 1,404 Hondurans, including 803 minors, many of them unaccompanied. A further 36,247, including a staggering 6,590 minors, were sent back via land from Mexico, with a further 103 deported from other Central American countries. Finally, four Honduran minors were deported from European counties, according to observatory data.
Overall in 2017, 48,022 undocumented Hondurans were deported from third countries, the majority by the US and Mexico. Yet the latest figures illustrate that the hard-line policies being implemented by President Trump are not having the desired deterrent effect. Whether for political, economic or security reasons, they keep on coming – as is starkly visible in the 7,000-strong migrant ‘Caravan’ currently snaking its way up through Mexico – having started in Honduras.
However, while President Trump’s policies and threats – including of cuts to vital US aid and cooperation for Central America – may sound good on the campaign trail, the US government may be storing up even bigger problems for later.
Cutting off aid?
On 22 October US Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, issued a statement in response to US President Trump’s tweet that he would be cutting off or substantially reducing aid to Central America’s Northern Triangle countries (El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras) if their respective leaders fail to stop migration.: “Fortunately, Congress – not the President – has the power of the purse, and my colleagues and I will not stand idly by as this Administration ignores congressional intent. My office has reached out to the Government Accountability Office, which is statutorily authorized to track acts of impoundment, to ensure that the President does not violate the Impoundment Control Act (which prohibits the President from withholding – or impounding – money appropriated by Congress).
- Questioning Trump’s threat
In his statement issued on 22 October US Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY) added that “Beyond these potential egregious violations of laws and norms, the President’s approach to Central America will have precisely the opposite impact from what he intends. El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala are plagued by violence and poverty. In many communities, gender-based violence against women and girls is tragically common. The best way to keep Central Americans from migrating to the United States is to continue investing in their communities so that they are not forced to make the dangerous trek north. Yet again, President Trump’s policy toward Latin America will only make things worse.”