In the first large-scale deportation following the promise by the federal government to start responding to the immigration crisis, 40 people from Honduras have been sent back to their home country. The group included unaccompanied minors and adults who had been held in a New Mexico detention facility.
The flight to San Pedro takes about six hours and requires a great deal of effort from those who made the journey to the United States from Central America.
Those opposed to immigration reform have praised the deportation; however, the fact remains that it has barely made an impact on the number of undocumented immigrants being kept in detention. Around 82,000 illegal immigrants are still in the United States, with around 57,000 being unaccompanied minors.
The government of Honduras has been very cooperative with the US, wanting its citizens to return to their home country. The Honduran president last week called the situation a humanitarian emergency, announcing plans to arrange a fund dedicated to returning the country’s citizens.
The first lady of Honduras, Ana Garcia de Hernandez, says that the people on the plane consisted of 22 minors, ranging from 15-year-old teenagers to babies just a few months old, and 18 mothers. “Clearly it worries us because we have always spoken about ensuring the best interests of the children,” Hernandez told CNN about the number of minors fleeing Honduras. Many individuals have fled because of the culture of violence and gang wars in Central America.