SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras, (Reuters) – More than 40 Central American children were expelled from the United States on flights to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador yesterday, as the U.S. government stepped up its deportation of illegal child migrants.
Tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors from the three violence-torn countries have been caught crossing the border this year, stretching U.S. border facilities and sparking fierce political debate about how to address the problem.
Thirty-three minors aged 6 months to 15 years along with 26 mothers landed on a U.S. flight to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, the city with the world’s highest murder rate.
There, the first lady of the country, Ana Garcia de Hernandez, met them and immediately expressed concern.
“Many of these (mothers) took out big loans, so how are they going to pay them now?” Garcia said.
Yesterday’s flights were the second lot after an initial group of deported children and women arrived in Honduras on Monday.
One of the women on the Honduran flight, 26-year-old Keli Orellana, said she was exhausted after spending eight days in a U.S. detention center with her 6-month-old baby son Iker Perez.
Returning to Honduras nearly $5,000 in debt to the guide or “coyote” who smuggled her to the border, Orellana urged U.S. President Barack Obama to give the migrants a chance.
“He should let us stay because we’re only going to work,” she said.
But the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said in a statement it expected more adults with children to be returned to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador soon, “based on the results of removal proceedings or expedited removal.”
